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             Queen Elizabeth Concludes Diamond Jubilee Celebration

   by VOA News

   Britain's Queen Elizabeth has attended a service of thanksgiving in
   London to begin the last day of celebrations marking her Diamond
   Jubilee.
   Thousands of cheering Londoners waving British flags lined the streets
   Tuesday to cheer the 86-year-old monarch as she was driven from
   Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral for the solemn service,
   joining her son, Prince Charles, her grandsons William and Harry, and
   other members of the royal family. But the queen was without her
   husband of 64 years, Prince Philip, who was hospitalized Monday with a
   bladder infection.
   In his thanksgiving sermon, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
   said Queen Elizabeth had shown "a quality of joy in the happiness of
   others" during her 60 years on the throne.
   The royal family will wrap up the Diamond Jubilee celebration with a
   balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace, followed by a rare television
   speech to the nation.
   Queen Elizabeth lit a symbolic torch Monday night during a moving
   ceremony in which Prince Charles paid a personal tribute to his mother,
   and led the crowd in cheers to her and his ailing father.
   The crowd sang the British anthem "God Save the Queen" before Elizabeth
   lit the beacon and fireworks exploded over Buckingham Palace.
   The London beacon was the last of 4,200 torches and bonfires lit all
   day Monday across Britain and the Commonwealth, starting with New
   Zealand and Tonga.
   Elizabeth succeeded her father, King George, after his death in 1952
   and was coronated the following year.
   She was crowned queen of seven Commonwealth countries -- the United
   Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and
   Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka.
   Along with Britain, the monarch is the head of state of 16 other
   nations, known as realms. Her role is purely ceremonial. She is also
   head of the Commonwealth, an organization that rose from the British
   empire. Most of its 53 member countries are former colonies.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and  Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/britain-queen-elizabeth-concludes-celebration-of-diamond-jubilee/1150386.html