NEWS DIGEST 02.06.2022: The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee begins

Good morning readers. As today marks the first day of the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend in honour of the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, we bring you news from Bing News.

A selection of outfits made by royal dressmakers for waxwork figures of the Queen will be on display at Madame Tussaud’s from Friday. As part of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee, Tussauds will showcase seven of the outfits worn by figures of the Queen throughout her reign. Tussauds has created 24 figures of the Queen in total during her 70 years on the throne. As well as the figures for her Silver Jubilee, which showed the Queen with her young family, figures were also created for Her Majesty’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee in 2002 and 2012 respectively. The 24th figure of the Queen was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in 2018 and featured the monarch in a more relaxed style, seated in her yellow hat and coat with guests able to “take tea” with the Queen – Queen’s outfits on display at Tussauds to celebrate Platinum Jubilee (Evening Standard/MSN Lifestyle)

The full list of worthy recipients has been released tonight (Wednesday evening). Twins who raised thousands for charity have been honoured by the Queen for their extraordinary efforts. Sir Quentin Blake has also been included for services to illustration “I’m really excited to be getting these awards from the Queen and I’m proud of my brother and myself that we have achieved this much.” The Queen’s Birthday Honours List also awards three Companions of Honour to author Sir Salman Rushdie, for his services to literature; Sir Quentin Blake, for services to his illustration; and Dame Marina Warner, for her services to the humanities. Arlene Foster is among politicians recognised by the Queen ahead of the Jubilee Awards for Parliamentary and political service are headed by Arlene Foster, the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, who receives a damehood. Ian Rankin receives a knighthood for services to literature and charity and actor Damian Lewis receives a CBE for services to drama and charity for initiating the campaign to raise £1 million to provide food for NHS workers throughout Covid-19 – Twins aged 11 honoured by Queen for raising £46,000 for NHS (Metro/MSN News)

Johnny Depp has won his multimillion-dollar US lawsuit against former wife Amber Heard after a jury ruled her 2018 article in the Washington Post was defamatory. Heard will receive $2 million out of the $100million she was seeking in her countersuit against the star. Depp had sued the Aquaman star for 50 million US dollars over the piece titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” The article does not mention Depp by name but his lawyers said it falsely implies he physically and sexually abused Heard while they were together. Heard looked downcast as the verdict was delivered in court while Depp was a no-show – Johnny Depp wins defamation case against Amber Heard and gets $15m in damages (Evening Standard/MSN News)

The Queen has launched her Platinum Jubilee celebrations with a message to the nation that it can look to the future with “confidence and enthusiasm”. A new photograph issued on Wednesday to mark Britain’s first Platinum Jubilee shows the Queen smiling from a cushioned window seat at Windsor, wearing a dove blue coat with shiny pearl and diamante scalloped beading. The image – more relaxed than previous jubilee photographs, in which the monarch has been dressed in full regalia complete with a crown or tiara and sash – captures the Queen looking comfortable and content, with her hands folded in her lap. Her Platinum Jubilee photograph was taken by Ranald Mackechnie, who has previously taken two portraits of the Queen. On Thursday, following Trooping the Colour, the Queen will return to Windsor for a night-time ceremony during which she will symbolically light the principal jubilee beacon, as part of a dual ceremony with her grandson the Duke of Cambridge – The Queen: ‘Look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm’ (The Telegraph/MSN News)

The Queen has said she is “inspired by the goodwill shown to me” and thanked the nation as a new portrait of her was unveiled to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Along with her remarks, a Platinum Jubilee portrait was unveiled, showing the Queen in Windsor Castle wearing a dusk dove blue Angela Kelly coat. The Queen will appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace twice on the first day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations on Thursday. The Queen will not attend the event, but Prince Charles will be there in her place, joined by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It will be the first time the Queen has not carried out the duty during her reign – New portrait of the Queen unveiled to mark Jubilee as she says she is ‘inspired by the goodwill shown to me’ (Sky News/MSN News)