Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Celebration begins: Highlights of first day

Four days of celebrations honouring 70 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth II kicked off on June 2 with the formal Platinum Jubilee celebrations. (Image: AP)

First came the Trooping the Color ceremony with horses. (Image: AP)

Then the queen joined members of her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as 70 planes flew overhead. (Image: AP)

The 96-year-old Elizabeth is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to serve for seven decades. (Image: AP)

During a four-day holiday weekend, thousands of street parties are planned around the country. (Image: AP)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II triggered the lighting of a chain of ceremonial beacons on June 2 as part of festivities bringing an end to an eventful first day of celebrations for the monarch's Platinum Jubilee. (Image: AP)

The queen was presented with a 'Commonwealth of Nations Globe' at a ceremony on the grounds of her Windsor Castle residence which she pressed to trigger the start of beacon lighting across the UK. (Image: AP)

In London, Prince William attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, watching on as the Tree of Trees sculpture lit up after the queen pushed the button at Windsor. (Image: AP)

Thousands of beacons were expected to be lit across Britain in evening on June 2 as people marked Queen Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne. (Image: AP)

Beacon lighting is a traditional element of British royal celebrations that began as a way for people far from London to take part in festivities. (Image: AP) (With inputs from AP)