Which Royals Got to Watch the Royal Air Force Flypast With Queen Elizabeth II?
Published June 2 2022, 10:34 a.m. ET
Thursday, June 5, 2022 marks the beginning of the four-day event series honoring Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee — her 70th year on the throne. The celebrations began with Trooping the Color, then the Royal Air Force flight took place later in the afternoon.
The Queen and a group of carefully selected royals watched the spectacle from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Which royals were on the balcony?
Who was on the balcony at the Buckingham Palace?
Queen Elizabeth II was photographed with her cousin, Prince Edward, and other royals during the Royal Air Force flypast taking place in the early afternoon hours of Thursday, June 5, 2022.
Speculations about which royals would get to enjoy the privilege of joining the Queen on the balcony have begun months ago — with many wondering about whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be among the guests.
The official list was released in May 2022. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis were the royals assigned places next to the Queen. Prince Edward, Sophie, and their kids, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, were also invited, alongside Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence.
Prince Richard and Birgitte, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra are three of the Queen's cousins who received an invitation to watch the Royal Air Force flypast from the balcony at the Buckingham Palace.
Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall were among the royal family members who weren't going to make an appearance on the balcony.
Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, is Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin.
Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick) is the first cousin of the Queen through their fathers, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and George VI. He is also related to Prince Philip. His mother, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, was first cousins with the late Prince Philip.
