2022 marks Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, following 70 years of service. Pride of Britain Hotels has also reached a special milestone this year, with its 40th (Ruby) anniversary.
In our Platinum Jubilee celebration series, we will be focusing on several areas around the UK and the sparkling events they are each planning.
Starting with London, here is our guide to marking this momentous royal milestone with a range of activities across the capital, as well as special Jubilee stays from the Pride of Britain Hotels collection.
Official royal tours and celebrations
The Queen’s private estates around the country will be joining in with special Jubilee-themed events. In London, Buckingham Palace will open the doors to the Royal Mews (19 May-2 October) and visitors to the beautiful working stables can discover coaches, horses and carriages (including the Gold State Coach used by The Queen for her Coronation in 1952). Buckingham Palace will also reopen its magnificent State Rooms to visitors this summer (22 July-2 October).
There’s much to look forward to over the official Jubilee weekend in June, including The Queen’s Birthday Parade, Trooping of the Colour (2 June), a special Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign at St Paul’s Cathedral (3 June) and a Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace (4 June).
Special exhibitions
Special exhibitions include the Mary Gillick Jubilee exhibition at the British Museum (2 June-31 July), highlighting the life and work of the little-known sculptor known for designing the engraving of Elizabeth II used on coinage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from 1953 to 1970 and the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth (as well as its museums in Manchester and Cambridgeshire), which is hosting a special photographic exhibition to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign (summer).
Visit (or stay) at the only hotel with a Royal Warrant from The Queen
Located a short hop from Buckingham Palace in London’s Belgravia, The Goring has been welcoming royalty since it was opened in 1910 by Otto Goring. It is the only hotel in the world to have been granted a Royal Warrant, in 1990, for hospitality services by HM The Queen, and is still run by the Goring family today.
The historic hotel is a firm favourite of the Royal family, with the Queen Mother formerly a regular visitor (she enjoyed the hotel’s classic Eggs Drumbiko dish) and the Duchess of Cambridge staying there before her wedding to Prince William. The Goring will commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a sequence of celebrations, including a Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea (£60 pp/£70 pp including a glass of champagne; 19 April-2 October), a Coronation à la carte menu inspired by the dishes the hotel created for guests in residence for The Queen’s Coronation in 1953 (dishes from £19 pp; available now), a Jubilee Fizz gold leaf champagne cocktail (£28 pp; available now) and The Goring Jubilee Goring Stay, which includes the Platinum Jubilee Tea, Jubilee Fizz cocktail with regal canapés, a three-course Coronation-inspired dinner with Champagne and full English breakfast (costs from £868 per night; two sharing; two-night stays available April-September).
Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea
The Athenaeum Hotel, the epitome of Art Deco elegance, overlooks Green Park – the 40-acre Royal Park next to Buckingham Palace where Royal Gun Salutes can be heard to mark special royal occasions.
The hotel’s Jubilee Afternoon Tea includes a selection of the Queen’s favourite sandwiches on bread from Royal Warrant Bakers ‘The Bread Factory’, including Burford Brown egg mayonnaise, chive and carraway, coronation chicken, and Severn & Wye smoked salmon with dill and cream cheese; handmade cakes and pastries including Battenburg, Victoria sponge, Royal chocolate cake and lavender choux; and scones with the Queen’s Royal Warrant choice of jam, Wilkins & Sons, along with clotted cream (30 May – 5 June, costs £45 pp). Upgrade with a Royal Warrant tipple – from a choice of Pimm’s cup (£18 pp), strawberry basiltini with Tanqueray Gin (£18 pp) or Bollinger Special Cuvée (£25 pp). An overnight stay costs from £331 per night (two sharing), including full English breakfast and use of the spa facilities.
