HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Garden Party at Hartlebury Castle for County Heroes

The Garden Party will mark the start of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the County and will celebrate HM The Queen’s 70 years on the throne. It will also allow the county to say thank you to a wide and diverse group of some 700 Worcestershire citizens who have contributed so much to the service of their fellow citizens. 

Guests have been invited from the NHS, the Care Sector, the voluntary and community sectors, businesses, multi-faith groups, local councils, West Midlands Police, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Service, the Armed Forces and more.

As part of HM The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, the unique, UK-wide tree planting project aimed at creating a lasting legacy in honour of HM The Queen’s lifetime of service, the Lord Lieutenant will plant a tree at Hartlebury Castle during the event.

Each guest, at the end of the Garden Party, will be offered a sapling to take home and plant within their communities.  The 350 saplings have all been donated by Frank P Matthews’ Tree Nursery in Worcestershire.

Guests will be entertained by local music makers Sauce City Jazz and the Kidderminster Male Choir.  

A young local vocalist will sing a song, specially commissioned for the Platinum Jubilee and composed by musician and composer Helen Lyon with the help of children from four schools in Worcestershire.

The Great Hall at Hartlebury Castle will host an exhibition highlighting the Royal connection to the County over the last 70 years. This exhibition is also being shown at the HIVE from 26 May to 4 September 2022.

There will also be a video describing an Intergenerational art project.  This project, which explores memories and perspectives of recent history and of HM The Queen, records the collaboration of musicians, singers and dancers aged 11+ from across Worcestershire in a new music and dance initiative.  

Banners created by local artists for display at Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events in Worcestershire and commissioned by Severn Arts, can also be seen at the Jubilee Garden party. 

The Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft LVO OBE CStJ, said: ‘‘For seventy years, HM The Queen has provided an inspirational example of duty and service to the nation and to the Commonwealth and she has been an enduring symbol of continuity during a period of profound change for us all. As we reflect on the recent upheaval of the pandemic and the challenges facing us now, it is right that we mark HM The Queen’s lifetime of devoted service, that we remember the contribution of so many of our fellow citizens during the pandemic, and that we look forward with confidence to the future.

‘‘The Jubilee Garden Party will be a wonderful occasion to celebrate HM The Queen’s unique achievement and to wish her well for the future.’’

Councillor Adam Kent, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Communication, said: “It’s an honour for the County Council to have supported, and to have been part of the organisation of this amazing event. Not only will we be able to celebrate 70 years of the reign HM The Queen, but we will also be able to give our thanks to those across the county who have gone above and beyond their duty to support our residents.

Each of the invitees represents more than a hundred people across our county who work tirelessly to improve the lives of others and I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the County Council, to say a big thank you to everyone across Worcestershire who has made a difference - past, present and in the future.”