Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

Queen Elizabeth II waves as she leaves St. Paul's Cathedral after a national service of thanksgiving for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Emotional End to Diamond Jubilee Celebrations as hundreds of thousands Cheer Queen’s Appearance on Palace Balcony.

The Queen waved from her Buckingham Palace balcony to the cheering masses on Tuesday and thanked millions of well-wishers at the end of four days of spectacular Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking her 60th year on the throne.

Hundreds of thousands of people cheered, sang patriotic songs and waved Union Jack flags outside Buckingham Palace at the finale of festivities for the Diamond Jubilee, only the second to be celebrated by a British monarch.

The 86-year-old beamed at the throng and waved from the balcony of the palace, accompanied by the 

senior members of her family with one notable absentee – Prince Philip, her husband of 64 years who was taken ill with a bladder infection on Monday.

It was one of the few grand state occasions in her life when he has not been present, taking some of the gloss off what has widely been seen as a triumphant diamond jubilee that has reinforced the popularity of the queen and the monarchy.

The grand Mall avenue leading to the queen’s London residence was turned into a sea of red, white and blue as well-wishers flooded the road to hail the queen before a flypast led by the Spitfires which won the Battle of Britain and concluded with a display by a Royal Air Force aerobatics team.

Celebrations outside Buckingham Palace closed when soldiers fired a rifle salute, then thrust their bearskin hats in the air to lead the crowds beyond the gates in a rousing three cheers to Elizabeth II, the only British monarch other than Queen Victoria to have reigned for 60 years.

As the ecstatic crowd roared its approval, the queen flanked by son and heir Charles, his wife Camilla, Prince William and his new wife Kate as well as brother Harry, gave one final wave before heading inside.

“I don’t think we’ll see anything like this again in my generation. It was wonderful,” said Joseph Afrane, 49, a photographer who was wearing a red, white and blue Union Jack flag waistcoat and hat.

Millions attended street parties, watched the queen glide past on a gilded barge as part of the River Thames pageant on Sunday, watched a concert in front of Buckingham Palace on Monday and spilled into the streets for Tuesday’s carriage procession and balcony wave.

Not even typically British inclement weather dampened enthusiasm, with rain failing to deter the crowds, although Philip’s illness overshadowed Tuesday’s events.

After visiting him in hospital, the queen’s youngest son Prince Edward said his father was getting better.

However, without Philip who has been at her side throughout her long reign, Elizabeth cut a slightly subdued figure as she attended a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral and a celebratory lunch.

“The remarkable thing is that she carried on (despite Philip’s illness),” said Tim Fell, 32, a nursery school teacher from Edinburgh in Scotland who was carrying a homemade banner reading “Elizabeth the Great: she’s a diamond”.

“Words like duty, commitment, loyalty and country aren’t just words in a dictionary for the queen, they are part of who she is,” he added.

Unlike some of the previous days’ celebrations, Tuesday’s events were more typical of the formal displays of pageantry for which British royalty is known across the globe.

Courtiers in an array of dazzling ceremonial red and golden tunics and mounted soldiers wearing shining helmets and breastplates dating from centuries past when Britain was an imperial power were on show across London.

With Philip absent, the queen led a horse-drawn carriage procession to Buckingham Palace in an open-top 1902 State Landau with Prince Charles and Camilla, while military bands played and a 60-gun salute was fired.

Harry, William and Kate, in an Alexander McQueen dress, followed behind.

Earlier, Elizabeth – dressed in a fine silk tulle outfit, embroidered with tiny mint green star-shaped flowers embellished with silver thread – arrived at Paul’s Cathedral to shouts of “God save the Queen” and a trumpet fanfare as she made her way past bowing and curtsying members of the congregation.

Commentators said the church service for Elizabeth, who came to the throne aged 25 in 1952, would hold particular poignancy for the queen who as titular head of the Church of England holds her religious role close to her heart.

“We are marking today the anniversary of one historic and very public act of dedication – a dedication that has endured faithfully, calmly and generously through most of the adult lives of most of us here,” said Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual leader of the Anglican church.

Afterwards the royals enjoyed a lavish lunch at Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Houses of Parliament and the site for the lying-in-state of her mother, the Queen Mother, after her death in 2002.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Price Harry wave to the crowds from Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee carriage procession after the service of thanksgiving at St.Paul.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth waves as she stands with Prince Charles (L) and Prince William on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London.

Crowds fill The Mall around Buckingham Palace ahead of The Diamond Jubilee flypast to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in London.

Revelers on the Mall in London watch Britain Queen Elizabeth II appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth (hidden) rides in the 1902 State Landau carriage as she leads a carriage procession through central London, en route to Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth II travels by carriage to Buckingham Palace with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales after a lunch at Westminster Hall.

Queen Elizabeth II stands next to David Wooton the Lord Mayor of London, as they listen to a Choir before she leaves Mansion House in the City of London.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (C) and members of the Royal Family leave St Paul's Cathedral in London, following a service of thanksgiving on June 5, 2012, during the Queen's diamond jubilee.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II departs St Paul's Cathedral, London with the Dean of St Paul's David Ison, left, following a service of thanksgiving on the last day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London.

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Hall.

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (C), and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, leave Westminster Hall.

(L-R) Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II during a service of thanksgiving to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at St Paul's cathedral.

(front row L-R) Britain's Prince Harry, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth attend a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth at St Paul's Cathedral.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and members of the Royal Family, depart St Paul,s Cathedral following the service of thanksgiving a service of thanksgiving during Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Britain's Prince William (L) and Prince Harry (L) talks as they leave Saint Paul's Cathedral.

 

Princess Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugene wait for their car outside St Paul's Cathedral following a national service of thanksgiving for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave after a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth at St Paul's Cathedral.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth waves next to Prince William (R) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (back) on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The British Rpyal Air Force Red Arrows fly in formation over Buckingham Palace in London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee as the royal family stood on the balcony.

Crowds fill The Mall as Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the royal family travel a horse-drawn carriage procession to Buckingham Palace through central London.