An eye-opening photo shared online shows the sheer mass of people who turned up to enjoy the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London.
Millions of people across Britain are currently enjoying their first day of a four-day Bank Holiday weekend, with street parties, picnics and parades planned in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne.
The official celebrations kicked off today (2 June) with the Trooping the Colour; a march which takes place annually for the Queen's birthday.
Advert
Members of the public flocked to watch the proceedings, which involved the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, more than 1200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division, hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses.
Around 7,000 members of the public were able to secure tickets to watch the ceremony from the stands on Horse Guards Parade while another 7,000 members of the Armed Forces Community invited by the Royal British Legion watched from the seating around the Queen Victoria Memorial.
Those without tickets were able to watch from the streets as troops passed between Buckingham Palace and the parade ground, and on screens set up in St James’ Park.
Advert
An image snapped in London on Thursday shows the huge scale of people who travelled to the area for the event, with crowds completely covering the tree-lined road of the Mall, which leads from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace.
Sharing the photo on Twitter, former footballer Gary Lineker simply wrote: "Amazing."
Many keen members of the public queued for hours to try and gain a good vantage point, though hopeful attendees were advised that viewing areas were full just minutes after the start of The Queen’s Birthday Parade.
Advert
In a post on Twitter, the Metropolitan Police wrote: "The viewing areas in central London for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations are now full. To avoid the disappointment of not being able to enter the viewing areas please avoid the area."
A post from the Royal Parks added: "Crowds have flocked to St James’s Park for Trooping the Colour and public viewing areas are now at full capacity. Please do not head to St James's Park but enjoy the Jubilee celebrations elsewhere."
Sarah Bates-Fidler, who travelled to watch the Jubilee celebrations from Rochester in Kent, described the situation as 'bedlam' in an interview with the Metro, saying: "They’ve closed roads and people are getting stuck on the closed roads, they aren’t going to see anything."
Advert
Her friend, Jan Cahill, added: ‘We’d been really excited, but we don’t know yet how to see anything. There’s no organisation really."
As well as those enjoying the celebrations in London, more than 600 Big Jubilee Lunches are planned in more than 80 countries in honour of the milestone in the Queen's reign.
Topics: The Queen, Royal Family, UK News, Twitter