Britain Holds Thanksgiving Service for Absent Queen as Jubilee Celebrations Continue

A general view of the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, London, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II on June 3, 2022. Dan Kitwood/PA Media

A thanksgiving service at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday marked the second day of a four-day celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s record-breaking 70-year reign.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell thanked the head of state for her enduring service to the UK and the Commonwealth, but the 96-year-old queen, who is the first British sovereign to reach her Platinum Jubilee, was missing from the service and watched the event on television from Windsor Castle instead due to ongoing mobility issues.

The queen was previously due to attend the service, but following two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony and one at Windsor Castle on Thursday, the palace said she decided not to attend Friday’s service “with great reluctance” considering the “journey and activity required.”

Queen Elizabeth II arrives to symbolically lead the lighting of the principal Jubilee beacon at Windsor Castle, as part of a chain of more than 3,500 flaming tributes to her 70-year-reign, on day one of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations on June 2, 2022. Steve Parsons/PA Media

Her son and heir Prince Charles, 73, represented her, while much attention was focused on her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who were making their first public appearance together in Britain since stepping down from royal duties two years ago.

More than 2,000 people filled the historic church including senior royals, politicians, charity figures, and groups the queen has supported, and honour receipients such as NHS and key workers who were recognised for their work during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie received both boos and cheers when they arrived at the cathedral.

Wellwishers wait for the arrival of the Royal Family ahead of the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, London, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II on June 3, 2022. Aaron Chown/PA Media

Hundreds of people gathered, some wearing Union flag hats and others hanging flags and bunting over the railings on the approach to the cathedral.

Cottrell stepped in to deliver the sermon after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby contracted COVID-19.

Paying tribute to the queen’s long reign, Cottrell said, “with endurance, through times of change and challenge, joy and sorrow, you continue to offer yourself in the service of our country and the Commonwealth.”

Cottrell said the congregation regrets the fact that the queen was absent but is glad that she’s “still in the saddle” and that “there is still more to come.”

He also praised the queen for the “kind of service” she offered, saying, “a staunch constancy and a steadfast consistency; a faithfulness to God, an obedience to a vocation that is the bedrock of her life.”

After the service, the Lord Mayor of the City of London hosted a reception at the medieval Guildhall that was attended by most of the senior royals, Johnson, and his ministers.

Thursday marked not only the start of the Jubilee, but also the 69th anniversary of the coronation of Elizabeth, who became queen on the death of her father George VI in February 1952 and is head of state of 14 other countries including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

She has now been on the throne for longer than any of her predecessors in 1,000 years and is the third-longest reigning monarch ever of a sovereign state. Opinion polls show she remains hugely popular and respected among British people.

Tributes have poured in from across the globe, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un adding his own congratulations to those from the likes of U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis.

PA Media and Reuters contributed to this report.