In March, preparations started for large parties in every major city of the United Kingdom, as well as for smaller ones for countless individual streets throughout the country.

After moving to England (where a record one million spectators came to greet the couple in Lancashire) and Wales, the Queen and Prince Philip wrapped up the first of their trips with a visit to Northern Ireland.

Among the places visited during the national trips were numerous schools, which were the subject of a television special hosted by presenter Valerie Singleton.

Later in the summer, the Queen and Prince Philip embarked on a Commonwealth visit that first brought them to island nations such as Fiji and Tonga, following up with longer stints in New Zealand and Australia, with a final stop in Papua New Guinea before going on to the British holdings in the West Indies.

[1] The Royal Australian Mint released a commemorative Silver Jubilee 50c coin, which featured twenty-five representations of St Edward's Crown.

Perhaps this Jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom".

The Scottish National Party MP Donald Stewart later asked if Prime Minister James Callaghan accepted "responsibility" for the Queen's remarks.

On 7 June, crowds lined the route of the procession to St Paul's Cathedral, where the royal family attended a national service of thanksgiving alongside many world leaders, including United States President Jimmy Carter, and Prime Minister James Callaghan as well as all of the living former prime ministers (Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Sir Harold Wilson and Edward Heath).

At the reception, the Queen was quoted as saying: When I was twenty-one I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God's help to make good that vow.

Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret nor retract one word of it.After the luncheon, the procession continued down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where an estimated one million people lined the pavements to see the family wave to onlookers.

In addition to parties, many streets decorated motor vehicles as historical events from Britain's past, and drove them about town, organising their very own parades.

The double-sided oval pendant has a distinctive design incorporating the four emblems of the countries of the United Kingdom: the Tudor rose for England, daffodils for Wales, thistles for Scotland and shamrocks for Northern Ireland.

With the official UK record chart for Jubilee week about to be released, the Daily Mirror predicted that "God Save the Queen" by the British punk rock band the Sex Pistols would be number one.

There is evidence that an exceptional directive was issued by the British Phonographic Institute, which oversaw the chart-compiling bureau, to exclude sales from record-company operated shops such as Virgin Records's for that week only.

[18] On 7 June, McLaren and the record label Virgin arranged to charter a private boat and have the Sex Pistols perform while sailing down the River Thames, passing Westminster Pier and the Houses of Parliament.