Elizabeth attended all of the official celebrations as scheduled, along with her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; over twelve months, the royal couple journeyed more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) to the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, then around the United Kingdom, and wrapped up the jubilee year in Canada.

She was on 27 February received in Adelaide by the Governor-General, Peter Hollingworth; the Australian viceroy, at the time, was in the midst of controversy involving allegations of child abuse cover-ups in the Anglican Church and demonstrators were present when the Queen and Prince Philip landed.

[7] The royal couple undertook a five-day tour through South Australia and Queensland, which also coincided with that year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Coolum Beach.

Fifty years after her Accession to the Throne, Elizabeth II remains a symbol of continuity, stability and tradition in a world that is under a barrage of constant change.

[11] For 12 days in October 2002, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh toured Canada, making stops in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Hull, Fredericton, Sussex, Moncton, and Ottawa.

In Nunavut, the Queen addressed the new legislative assembly, stating in her speech: "I am proud to be the first member of the Canadian Royal Family to be greeted in Canada's newest territory.

In Ontario, the Queen attended at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Toronto headquarters an event marking the organisation's 50th anniversary; there, she viewed exhibits and was amused by a video display showing her earlier tours of Canada in the 1950s.

[15] In Ottawa, on 13 October, a multi-faith Thanksgiving celebration was held on Parliament Hill for about 3,500 people, and the Queen laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[18] It was argued in retrospective analysis that the jubilee had been of benefit both to nationalism and the monarchy;[19] The Globe and Mail said: "When she daintily bent over to drop a puck at an NHL game... she achieved perhaps the most brilliant melding of symbolism in Canadian history...

The Jumbotron in Vancouver's GM Place said it all, flashing the Queen's golden EIIR cypher on the giant screen atop the beer advertisement: 'I am Canadian'.

"[20] Prince Philip and I have a unique opportunity to see and hear about these ways in which you are meeting the challenge of giving every Jamaican a stake in the future during our short visit in this year which marks both Jamaica's fortieth anniversary of Independence and my Golden Jubilee.

[22] She arrived for the celebrations on 18 February 2002, nine days following the death of her sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon; the Queen established a short period of private, though not state, mourning.

[22] The tour ended on a unique note when, at the final banquet in Jamaica, a power outage plunged King's House into darkness during the meal; Elizabeth described the event as "memorable".

She and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in the country on 22 February, just after Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a speech that she felt it "inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic.

[25] To commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a fine arts exhibition, entitled 20 Portraits and other Works, was held in Papua New Guinea in June 2002.

The winning portrait by painter Laben John was presented as a gift to the Queen by Jean Kekedo, Papua New Guinean High Commissioner to the UK, on 16 July 2002.

The year-long commemoration featured a military tattoo on Mindoo Phillip Park and a reception for the Queen's birthday at Government House, among other events.

[34] On June 9, Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy led a Service of Celebration at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

In the lead-up to those festive weeks, the British media—The Guardian, in particular—predicted that the jubilee would be a failure,[36][37] arguing that Britain was no longer interested in the monarchy; a pervading sense of apathy amongst the populace seemed to confirm this.

[41] At the end of the month, however, the Queen was dealt another blow when her mother died on 30 March; the Commonwealth realms observed a period of mourning, and on 9 April, the day of her funeral, more than one million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the 23-mile (37 km) route from central London to the Queen Mother's final resting place beside her husband and younger daughter in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

[50] The Golden Jubilee Weekend took place between 1 and 4 June 2002 in London,[45] for which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh left Scotland on 29 May to make final preparations.

Earlier in the day, Cardiff Bay hosted performances by Europe and the UK's street theatre artists and a gala was held at Belfast City Hall.

[52] After time on 3 June touring Eton and Slough and watching a parade in Windsor,[52] Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh returned to London and the former at 1:00 pm launched the nationwide BBC Music Live Festival, in which more than 200 towns and cities across the United Kingdom publicly played the Beatles song "All You Need Is Love".

During the day, street parties were held around the country,[53] and that evening, the Queen, the Duke, and other members of the immediate Royal Family, made themselves present at another concert on the grounds of Buckingham Palace; this fête, called Party at the Palace, showcased achievements in pop music over the previous 50 years, with headlining acts including Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Cliff Richard, and Tony Bennett.

[1] On 4 June, the entire royal family and 2,400 guests attended a national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, to which the Queen rode in the Gold State Coach.

[57] In addition to entertainers performing for the Queen, numerous floats were decorated to illustrate British life through the years of Elizabeth's reign and driven through The Mall.

The museum also provided photographs for the production of three sets of stamps, and, for the Jubilee Weekend, prepared a temporary exhibition on royal visits, with other items from the past, such as the coronation medals issued in to some local residents in 1953.

Other items produced to commemorate the Jubilee were a straw crown made on Middle Caicos by Loathie Harvey and Judy Geddis, two 20-crown coins, and a badge given to all school children as a memento of the historic occasion.

In Canada, the Governor-in-Council earmarked Can$250,000 as a donation in the Queen's name to the Dominion Institute's Memory Project, aimed at educating Canadian youth on the experiences and contributions of the country's veterans from the First World War through to modern peacekeeping missions.