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CNN Live Today

Thousands of Britons Gather for Queen's Jubilee

Aired June 03, 2002 - 13:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The smoke has cleared at Buckingham Palace. Now an investigation is underway to figure out what caused yesterday's fire inside a fourth floor attic. Palace officials are still assessing the damage. None of the royals were there when the fire broke out.

Despite the fire, the Queen's Jubilee celebration is proceeding as planned. The next event, a pop concert at Buckingham Palace. That gets underway in about an hour.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour, though, is there live -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, even though this is all about celebration, certainly the British government is mindful of the kind of world we live in now. There have been extraordinary security precautions taken post- September 11. We have been told that there are British fighter jets on standby to intercept any possible hijacked aircraft, and that there will be an air exclusion zone over this part of central London. That's what we're told.

And at the same time, of course, reflecting concerns over India and Pakistan, the British government is making contingency plans for a possible airlift of its citizens from the Indian subcontinent. But at the same time, it is pulling out all the stops for what is billed to be the party of the last 50 years, and what's shaping up to be much more of a celebration than the palace here had dared to hope.

They were quite worried that some of the negative press about the royal family over the last several years would translate into a rather failed Jubilee celebration. But, in fact, it hasn't turned out that way. Thousands of people have come here to Buckingham Palace. They have been also greeting the queen on her walkabout earlier today. They've turned out in the tens of thousands all over the British aisles as she's traveled around over the last couple of months, climaxing with this four-day long weekend. So for the palace this is turning out to be much better than they hoped.

Tonight at Buckingham Palace, some 12,000 people who got their tickets through a lottery will be invited into the grounds of Buckingham Palace for a pop concert that starts in about an hour from now. This is as much about a party atmosphere, this concert, as it is to highlight, really, one of Britain's key exports over the last 30- or-so years. And that is British pop music which, as you know, has had such an impact and influence over so many parts of the world. So that is what tonight is all about.

And tomorrow will be much more about the pomp and circumstance and royal regalia that Britain is also known about. And although there are many people in this country who would much rather dispense with the royal family, the polls still say that 70 percent prefer to keep the monarchy over a republic.

That's the fuse from here, Carol.

LIN: Christiane, where is that music coming from behind you?

AMANPOUR: Well, that has been going on all day. We're in -- outside Buckingham Palace, and there's the mall, which is the big avenue that leads toward Buckingham Palace. There is a huge choir and a band that has been playing and entertaining these crowds, who have been here for several hours gearing up to watch the concert on the big screens. Those are the people who haven't been able to get into Buckingham Palace.

I would sort of swing over and show you, but our camera won't get it because it's sort of tucked behind. But at least you can you hear it.

LIN: We can hear it loud and clear. Thank you very much, Christiane Amanpour live outside of Buckingham Palace. What a great celebration.

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