Queen Elizabeth travels to Scotland ahead of Platinum Jubilee celebrations

The Queen has travelled to Balmoral for a short break ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations which begin next week.

The monarch has attended a number of high-profile engagements in recent weeks and it is understood she is now pacing herself before the national events start.

It is understood the Queen arrived at her private Scottish home on Thursday. She usually visits Scotland at this time of year.

There will be an extended bank holiday, from Thursday, June 2, to Sunday, June 5, to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Events celebrating the occasion are to be broadcast on a big screen in Edinburgh with people taking part in various activities across the country.

There will also be entertainment by the Royal Marines, as well as local performers, and the whole nation is being called upon to sing Neil Diamond’s hit Sweet Caroline at street parties across the UK on Sunday, June 5.

Soul icon Diana Ross is set to headline the BBC’s Platinum Party At The Palace concert celebrating the monarch’s 70-year Jubilee.

Elizabeth II came to the throne on February 6, 1952, when her ailing father, King George VI, died from lung cancer at Sandringham in the early hours.

This year she became the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, which is being marked by a series of events planned throughout 2022 and culminating in the four-day bank holiday in June.