A video clip of members of the Royal Family reacting to a pyrotechnic explosion during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations went viral after fans uploaded an edited version to social media platform TikTok.
The British monarchy celebrated its first-ever platinum jubilee in 2022 when Queen Elizabeth surpassed the 70-year milestone of her accession to the throne. The country marked the occasion with a series of celebrations including a pop concert outside Buckingham Palace and a special pageant.
Elizabeth, 96, was too frail to attend most scheduled events as she suffered from what the Palace described at the time as “episodic mobility issues”.
Video footage that has gone viral shows Prince William and Kate Middleton’s three children – Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, – with their parents and the Queen during their final appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace her death just three months later.
The monarch made a surprise appearance on the balcony to wrap up the jubilee celebrations, and crowds along the Mall joined to sing the national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’.
At the end of the anthem, two large air cannons exploded, releasing red, white, and blue smoke to show patriotism. These explosions made the royal children visibly jump in shock as their reactions were caught on camera.
Uploaded by user l0velycatherine on TikTok, the viral video entitled “her reactions ðŸ˜ðŸ¤£” has been viewed over 1.5 million times and received more than 112,000 likes and 100 comments.
“Prince Louis looks like he’s drifting off in space. I think the noise brought him back to reality 🤣,” one user wrote, while another added, “Even the queen had to giggle a bit haha.”
“George and William had the same reaction,” one commenter noted, while another user said, “Kate immediately went into laughter mode 😂🥰🥰.”
As part of the anniversary celebrations, George, Charlotte and Louis made increasing public appearances when they first took part in the Trooping the Color parade as part of the carriage procession and pageant.
George and Charlotte also made their first visit to Wales together with their parents over the weekend of the event, attending the Platinum Party at the Palace pop concert, which featured artists Alicia Keys, Elton John and George Ezra.
During the final day’s pageant, it was Prince Louis who stole the show with his reactions in the royal box, once losing his temper and at other times bouncing from knee to knee among family members, only to end up at his then-grandfather-Prince Charles (now King Charles III).
At the conclusion of the celebrations, William and Kate took to Twitter to thank the crowd of well-wishers they had met throughout the weekend, with a special nod to Louis.
“Thank you to everyone who came to show their gratitude to the Queen and her inspiring 70 year leadership. From the crowds on the Mall to communities holding street parties across the country, we hope you had a weekend to remember,” the couple said in a rare tweet, adding:
“We all had an incredible time, especially Louis… 👀 W&C.”
The next big event for the royal family will be the coronation of King Charles in May and while the ceremony itself might be too long for any Welsh children, they are expected to attend the wider celebrations, including a concert at Windsor Castle.
James Crawford Smith is latestpagenewss royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on latestpagenews’s The Royals Facebook page.
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