05/06/2012 16:23
Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee reached its conclusion
Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations reached a climax Tuesday -- but the monarch's elderly husband, Prince Philip was absent for the service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral.
The prince, who is 91 this weekend, is recovering at a central London hospital with a bladder infection and is expected to remain under observation for several days. "He is, understandably, disappointed," the queen's press secretary said in a statement Monday, the CNN reports.
Tens of thousands of people lined The Mall to watch the show as fireworks and lights lit up the queen's iconic residence in central London.
World superstars including Paul McCartney, Elton John and Cliff Richard paid tribute to the queen alongside younger British artists, in a programme representing all the decades of her 60-year reign.
The event closed with some words of thanks from Prince Charles to his "inspiring" mother, and the lighting of a beacon by the queen herself, followed by a final display of fireworks, the AFP says.