In comparison to the previous Golden Jubilee, events in the United Kingdom were significantly scaled back due to the economic policies of the governing Conservative Party deeming excessive cost to the taxpayer amidst widespread austerity as inappropriate.

[4] At the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced the creation of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, which was officially launched in the UK on 6 February 2012.

[5] Chaired by former British prime minister Sir John Major, the trust was intended to support charitable organisations and projects across the Commonwealth of Nations, focusing on areas such as cures for diseases and the promotion of all types of culture and education.

In his speech given at the conclusion of the Diamond Jubilee Concert, the Prince of Wales commented on the sadness of his father's absence and urged the crowd to cheer loud enough for the Duke to hear in hospital.

[28] To close their visit to Antigua and Barbuda, Prince Edward and Countess Sophie enjoyed a Diamond Jubilee Lunch at the Jumby Bay Resort on Long Island.

[citation needed] A special ecumenical service was conducted in St James' Church, Sydney, at which the invited preacher was Cardinal George Pell and the Governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir, was the guest of honour.

[50][51] The visiting royal couple opened an exhibit at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, and an official state dinner and reception was held at Government House in the evening.

[52][53] The following day, the Countess visited the Albert C. Graham Children's Development Centre at Ladymeade Gardens, while the Earl presented eight Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Awards to Barbadian youth at a dedication ceremony.

[54][55] Other events included the Earl and Countess lunching with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart at his residence, Ilaro Court, and touring several areas of Bridgetown that were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 2011.

[66] The Secretary to the Queen, Kevin S. MacLeod, was charged by the Governor General-in-Council to head the Diamond Jubilee Committee (DJC)—a 14-member group of individuals drawn from the provincial and territorial governments, non-governmental organisations, officials from the Departments of Citizenship and Immigration, National Defence, and Canadian Heritage (DCH), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police[67]—that oversaw the organisation of the country's fêtes for Elizabeth II's 60 years as Queen of Canada.

[70] At Rideau Hall in Ottawa, she also, on 30 June, unveiled a commemorative stained glass window depicting herself and Queen Victoria with their respective royal cyphers and renditions of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament during the reign of each monarch.

[78] That day, the monarch's personal standard for Canada was unfurled at Rideau Hall and on Parliament Hill, as well as at provincial royal residences and legislatures across the country;[79][80][81][82] permission was granted by the Queen to break the usual protocol of flying the banner only where the sovereign is physically present.

[81][83][88] All federal Members of Parliament (MPs) received the award automatically and a few refused, some because they belonged to the Quebec separatist Bloc Québécois,[89] and one because he felt the money being spent by the Crown on jubilee events and markers was a waste.

[100] They then flew on to Toronto to meet with emergency workers and their families and observe the annual fireworks show at Ashbridges Bay that marks Victoria Day and the Queen's official Canadian birthday.

After, the Duchess visited The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, of which she is colonel-in-chief,[101] laying at the armoury a wreath in memory of fallen Canadian soldiers, while the Prince of Wales saw the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University, toured the construction site of the athletes' village for the 2015 Pan American Games (where Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty announced a portion of Front Street running through the village would be named Diamond Jubilee Promenade[102]), visited the Yonge Street Mission, and met with the national leadership of the Assembly of First Nations.

[104] New Democratic Party MP Pat Martin, an open anti-monarchist, stated in the House of Commons that the tour was "a bread-and-circuses routine" intended to distract from cuts to the federal civil service.

[109] We, Your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled, beg to offer our sincere congratulations on the happy completion of the sixtieth year of Your reign.

[113] The next day, a group from the Royal Canadian Dragoons stationed in Afghanistan climbed with British soldiers to the peak of the 7,000 foot mountain Gharib Ghar, within the Kabul Military Training Center, "as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II.

Dedicated at the same time by the Governor General were new bronze and glass handrails, with detailing evoking the Diamond Jubilee, flanking the ceremonial staircase in Rideau Hall's main entrance foyer.

The Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, stated the tour was intended to "highlight the country's tourism developments on the North Coast and the important work being done in the area of youth and children.

[39] The Prince of Wales spoke to crowds in Port Moresby in the pidgin language of Tok Pisin, referring to himself as 'namawan pikinini bilong misis kwinn' (the number one child of The Queen).

[160] During their time in the country, the Prince and the Duchess met church, charity, and community volunteers, cultural groups, and members of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in and near Port Moresby.

The committee head, former Minister of Culture Rene Baptiste, stated the aim was to "showcase what we have to offer, as well as our loyalty to the Parliament..." The Earl and Countess of Wessex, aboard RFA Fort Rosalie, arrived for their tour of country on 25 February and visited the restored Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Botanic Gardens and planted a Pink Poui tree, attended an official lunch at Government House, and planted Royal Palms on the Grenadines.

Senator Julian Francis, the General Secretary of the governing Unity Labour Party, stated the public reaction to the presence of the royal couple "confirmed to me that we could not have won the 2009 referendum on a republic.

[8] The British logo for the Diamond Jubilee was selected through a contest held by the BBC children's programme Blue Peter; the winning design, announced in February 2011, was created by ten-year-old Katherine Dewar.

[182] Members of the royal family, governors-general, and prime ministers from the Commonwealth realms were present at various functions held on 4 and 5 June: A reception took place at Buckingham Palace before the Diamond Jubilee Concert and a national service of thanksgiving was conducted the following day at St Paul's Cathedral, also attended by 2,000 other guests.

She has never shut the door on the future; instead, she has led the way through it, ushering in the television cameras, opening up the royal collection and the palaces and hosting receptions and award ceremonies for every area of public life.

[207] Its title, perhaps coincidentally, conjured another contentious part of the celebrations where unemployed workers, bussed into London on an allegedly unpaid trial to staff security for the event, were made to work under what some described as "appalling" conditions.

[63] Later in the month, Queen Elizabeth attended a multi-faith (Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian) reception held at the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, in honour of the jubilee.

[223][224] In Nairobi, the High Commission commemorated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee by lighting a beacon at Treetops Lodge, the location where Princess Elizabeth learned of her father's death and her immediate accession to the throne in 1952.