TheDiamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster was a military parade held atWindsor Castle andHome Park inWindsor, Berkshire, England, organised as part of theQueen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Performed as a tribute to the Queen on behalf of all three branches of theBritish Armed Forces, it featured a review of members of all three services by the monarch (known as amuster), a military parade through the town, and flypasts by current and historic military aircraft.
The event followed the long-standing tradition of having an armed forces tribute to the monarch during a jubilee year, although this event was the first time all three services, theRoyal Navy, theBritish Army, and theRoyal Air Force, had visited Elizabeth II for such an event at the same time.[1]
According to military historian Peter Craddick-Adams, amuster is an opportunity to show the monarch what they do and what they look like at a point in history, dating back to reviews of the preparedness of local militia inTudor times. He ascribed an extra significance to this event as a thank you from the monarch to the military for their recent combat missions, given the actions inAfghanistan,Iraq andLibya pre-dated the previous jubilee, theGolden Jubilee of 2002.[2]
In charge of the event wasAir Vice-MarshalDavid Murray.[2] Planning for it began 18 months beforehand, after the Queen accepted the request for a muster to be brought to her for the first time.[2] With the venue chosen, 2,500 servicemen and women were selected to take part in the parade, including personnel who had recently served in theNATO operation in Afghanistan and on boardHMSLiverpool during theLibyan Civil War.[1][2]
With a high standard ofdrill required for the event, refresher training for the participants began two weeks beforehand.[2] Massed personnel of the Navy prepared atLongmoor Training Camp, Hampshire, while the RAF practiced atRAF Halton.[3] The guard of honour practiced atWellington Barracks in London.[2]
The Armed Forces Diamond Jubilee Parade and Muster took place on Saturday, 19 May 2012.[3] It was the first major national event of theDiamond Jubilee celebrations forQueen Elizabeth II taking place in 2012.[1][3] It preceded the programme of Spring & Summer celebrations in the UK which will culminate in an extended bank holiday weekend in June.
The event started insideWindsor Castle and ending in the private grounds ofHome Park, part of the royal Windsor estate.[4] It was opened with an initial flypast of Typhoon aircraft, followed by a march-past in front of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh through the castle quadrangle.[1][4] From there, the various parading formations proceeded to march through the town in order to form up at a second location in Home Park. The Royal party then followed by car along the parade route to the park.[1] After the parade in the park, finishing the event was a main flypast of various aircraft, ending with theRed Arrows to close the ceremony. Following the ceremony, the Queen attended a marquee reception alongside 200 guests.
The Castle Quadrangle was selected for the march past to provide a close proximity between the Queen and the parading service personnel.[1] As the senior service, the Royal Navy were the first to march past the Queen.[1] From the castle, the parade proceeded down Castle Hill, along Thames Street and Datchet Road, to enter Home Park via the Town Gate.[3] An estimated 20,000 members of the public watched the parade go through the town.[1]
For the Queen's subsequent car journey from the castle to the park, a tri-serviceguard of honour was formed along the parade route, drawn from personnel of theRAF Regiment,Coldstream Guards and Royal Navy.[2][4] Mounted escorts of both The Blues and Royals and The Life Guards of TheHousehold Cavalry Mounted Regiment provided a cavalry escort for the car journey, accompanied by music from the Mounted Band of the Life Guards with drum horse Achilles.[3]
The parade in Home Park took place in an arena with a grandstand looking over a parade ground, faced on the opposite side by a stage designed to look like Buckingham Palace[4] (erected for the earlierDiamond Jubilee Pageant). A private arena, this parade took place in front of 3,800 invited guests, including 3,000 military personnel, their families and veterans and the monarchs ofBrunei,Denmark,Lesotho,Luxembourg,Norway,Swaziland,Sweden,Thailand andTonga[1][3][4] (the Queen having hosted a luncheon for foreign monarchs in the castle the day before).
The parade opened with adrumhead service. The Chief of the Defence Staff,General Sir David Richards then made a speech to the Queen, to which the Queen responded. She was then giventhree cheers by the assembled ranks.[1][4]
The flypast route was up the Long Walk and over the Castle.[3] The initial flypast over the castle was by nineRoyal Air Force Typhoons flying indiamond formation.[4] The main flypast over Home Park featured 78 current and historic aircraft.[1]
The main flypast formation was as follows: 13 helicopters from all three services led by aMerlin and includingChinook transports andApache gunships, all flying fromRAF Odiham; theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight historic aircraft withLancaster bomber PA474 leading 4Spitfires, all flying fromRAF Coningsby; 20Short Tucano RAF trainers flying fromRAF Linton-on-Ouse in a '60' formation reflecting the Queen's 60-year reign; twoHercules RAF transports flying one behind the other and aVC10 RAF tanker (with fuel hoses deployed) flanked by two Tornado bombers, all flying fromRAF Brize Norton; 27Hawk RAF/Navy trainers flying fromRAF Valley in an 'E II R' formation reflecting theRoyal cypher, and finally 9 Hawks of theRed Arrows RAF display team flying in a three-dimensional diamond formation arranged especially for the Diamond Jubilee.[5]
The parade included six military bands.[4] It featured both traditional music including performances ofRule Britannia andLand of Hope and Glory, as well as three new pieces written especially for the event.[1][4] These were performed for the Queen prior to the main flypast.[5]
The event was broadcast live onBBC One.[2] TitledThe Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Tribute, it was presented byFiona Bruce,Dan Snow,Eddie Butler andJulie Heptonstall.