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Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee
Aired June 05, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers from around the world. You're watching one of the most extraordinary days in the history of the royal family. I'm Piers Morgan.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you from London. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
MORGAN: Welcome to London. One of the world's famous landmarks, Buckingham Palace. For the next two hours you'll see the big finale of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. A marvelous celebration honoring Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne. Minutes from now Her Majesty will leave parliament, a carried possession, and end up on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a magnificent and historic moment.
BALDWIN: So we want to just show you exactly what you can expect as you're with us here on CNN over the course of the next hour. Right now, as we mentioned, she is actually at Westminster Hall. She's having this luncheon with her son, Prince Charles, along with his wife, Camilla, and also there, two of her most famous grandsons, Prince Harry and Prince William, of course, the Duchess of Cambridge. And that is all happening at Westminster Hall.
MORGAN: Here's a map. Now this is my -- this is my hometown. Let me guide you through this.
BALDWIN: Go for it, Morgan.
MORGAN: It all begins in Parliament Square. We have the Houses of Parliament, of course, the Big Ben, and the procession then moves up to Trafalgar Square. From Trafalgar Square, we have (INAUDIBLE). It will come on to Admiralty Arch into the Mall and right up to Buckingham Palace.
What will be remarkable scenes right behind us just here, and already you can feel the crowds building. They're expecting up to a million people on the streets and we've been seeing a procession of bands and --
BALDWIN: Can you hear that?
MORGAN: -- guardsmen. You can hear it now actually.
BALDWIN: You can hear it over the microphones. We're hearing -- let's just listen. This is one of the bands.
So as we continue watching all these live pictures and really this is -- we're just getting started here because she hasn't even left Westminster Hall. I mean just imagine --
MORGAN: Look at the Household Cavalry there. I mean they are --
BALDWIN: Head to toe.
MORGAN: Some of the most impressive military servicemen you'll ever see anywhere in the world. Quite extraordinary.
BALDWIN: Rolling out the red carpet on this day celebrating her 60-year reign. And we want to check in here with Becky Anderson. She is standing by with some revelers, some very, very proud Brits this morning.
Hi, Becky.
(LAUGHTER)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, there. And just as you speak to us, the band is coming towards us here from my right-hand side. We've got Buckingham Palace behind us. The crowd here really waiting in anticipation for the Queen's arrival in about 40 minutes' time, of course. The Mall is absolutely packed as Richard was saying. Once they open the Mall, this crowd will just swarm down to what is Buckingham Palace behind me.
My friend here is from Bangladesh, I believe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, from Bangladesh.
ANDERSON: Yes. I know. Are you enjoying yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am enjoying here. And it's a lifetime opportunity in London. The Queen's jubilee. I'm celebrating.
ANDERSON: What do you think? Did you see the marching band come behind us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's fantastic. Amazing actually. The nice music. And there's (INAUDIBLE).
ANDERSON: Are you going to pole vault this fence when you know you can?
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: You've got to be an acrobat here today because as I understand it, guys, this will be open once the Queen has come in and people push towards the fence. You'll get the fly by and of course we'll have the Queen on the balcony. This is what we've got here right outside Buckingham Palace as we speak.
MORGAN: Thanks, Becky. Right behind us, as we are speaking, you can see a lot of the Queen's guards coming through. The Coldstream Guards, the Grenadier Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards. BALDWIN: So what's interesting is I've gotten my 101 in reading up for this assignment. What's the name of these big fuzzy hats. They're the Busby.
MORGAN: Big fuzzy hat?
BALDWIN: Big fuzzy hat or the busbies. But if you look at the different busbies, what I didn't realize, Piers Morgan, is they're a different color blue that signify different branches, if you will, within the infantry. And so clearly this is the blue. And then if we get some tighter shots you can see actually even they're down to their gold buttons down the front of their jackets. Some are single buttons. Some are triple. Some are double.
Well, you know, somebody's -- I know.
MORGAN: He knows all about it. Richard Quest, talk us through. There are five guards regiments. Explain the differences and the subtleties.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's the Irish Guards. No plume is Scots Guards. A white plume on the left is the -- is the Grenadiers. A red on the right is the Coldstream. A green on the -- green on the left is the Welsh. Freedom white. But the blue is the -- is the Irish.
MORGAN: (INAUDIBLE)
QUEST: You're impressed?
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: OK. So he's working through different colors.
QUEST: But I also know the Irish Guards --
BALDWIN: This is the voice of Richard Quest. And we're watching them enter. So we're perched just aside from this picture you're looking at right now. And that's the balcony. If you see this. That's the Center Gate. The entire culmination of the carriage procession will be through this precise gate in just a little while from now once she comes up the Mall, and then the big shot on the balcony.
And I've got to tell you sitting here and really seeing it for the first time, this balcony right there with the bunting, the red bunting, is so much bigger in person.
MORGAN: Well, it's the most famous balcony in the world, isn't it?
BALDWIN: It is so much bigger in person.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I mean even Romeo and Juliet couldn't compete with this one. It has been 50 years of extraordinary scenes. And today I think will be a very special moment for the Queen as she looks down over the Mall but will be up to a million people watching there. She'd be with all her family apart from her husband.
It's important to also note, I think, that the guards that we've been seeing are taking part in the procession and the bands and so on, these are not just ceremonial soldiers. These are real soldiers. These people have been to Iraq and Afghanistan and so on. They are proper acting servicemen who today are acting in this -- in this way. But it's quite stunning. When you (INAUDIBLE), Brooke, what you see in here -- let's hear a bit of this because --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Yes. Let's just listen. It's amazing. This is inside of Westminster Hall. This is --
QUEST: Inside Westminster Hall. There is the Queen having had the royal salute and the national anthem. And so comes to an end the lunch part of the proceedings. Very shortly the Queen will now be leaving along with other members of the royal family. And will be joining of course the carriage procession.
Outside Westminster Hall at this moment, the sovereigns escort is forming along with all of the members of the Household Cavalry. This is what Britain does best. What you're seeing is now the King's troop, the Royal Horse Artillery, who are lining up on Horse Guards Parade where they will be firing the gun salute.
Forty-one, I think, gun salute to Her Majesty, the Queen. This particular troop is the senior troop. And when they have their guns, the King's Troop, the Royal Horse Artillery, take precedence over all others. The Queen is now leaving with of course the sovereign stick in front and will be joined by silver stick in waiting.
I'll explain all of that as to when we get to the moment of the procession.
Piers and Brooke are at Buckingham Palace. I think the rain must finally have got into the works. We seemed to have lost them because of the technical difficulties. We probably didn't pay the electricity bill. Anyway, as soon as we managed to wind up the elastic band -- Piers and Brooke, you are back. We paid the bill. Welcome back.
MORGAN: We keep -- we keep being cruelly cut off. But you'll be amused to hear, Richard, this has nothing to do with us or indeed British weather here. This is about weather at CNN's HQ in Atlanta. So all those Americans mocking our weather --
BALDWIN: Hey.
MORGAN: Touche. We're back. Miscommunicated several times but we are back.
BALDWIN: We're fine. We're back.
MORGAN: And we remain as enthusiastic and excited as we were before we were removed from the process.
Now let's talk about the procession because -- no, we're not. We're going to go to a quick commercial break then I'm going to tell you all about the procession.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Welcome back to London for day four, the final day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Now this is exciting. This is verging on historic. We've been joined by the great legendary newsman, Sir David Frost.
Welcome.
BALDWIN: Welcome.
Bless you. Glad to be here.
MORGAN: Andrew Lloyd Webber who is a mastermind and part of the concert last night. Welcome.
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, COMPOSER: Thank you.
MORGAN: My good lord. And Dickie Arbiter who should be either a knight or a lord but is so far being cruelly overlooked after years of service to the very building behind us, at Buckingham Palace.
Welcome to you all.
Today, put into context what this is all about. When people say why should we care that the Queen is having her 60th anniversary celebration. What do you say?
WEBBER: Well, the first thing is it emerges very quickly that people do care. It may be difficult sometimes to explain exactly what it is but you suddenly see people really do care. And in fact when they go to places people care and they gather and they gather here, so that they really do care. Now what is it? It's -- because on the one hand people want to see the glamour of palaces and so on, and then on the other hand journalists say but it's very important, we get across the royals are ordinary folk. Well, people want them to be extraordinary and ordinary. So it's quite difficult.
MORGAN: We have breaking news.
BALDWIN: Let me jump in. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Brooke?
BALDWIN: Breaking news on the carriage. We have just learned and hopefully this is a good sign of things to come weather wise, is that we have learned the 1902 State Landau will be used so that is a good sign meaning that it will not, at least they're not hoping, that the rain won't fall down on the Queen.
Richard Quest, what more do you know about this breaking carriage news?
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Well, we've -- well, you know, we've been going backwards and forward. Would it be the Australian coach from 1998 or would it be the 1902 as with the seven State Landau. We now know even though it is raining we're going to get the first umbrellas as you can see from the lining up outside of New Palace Yard, They are going to use the 1902 Landau unless they change at the last minute which means all the people, you, me, everybody else, we're all going to get a spectacular view of the procession.
MORGAN: You know, even as we said that they were going for the open top carriage, the rain suddenly got heavier.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: That shows you -- Dickie Arbiter, better go straight. Organizing these things must be a hellish nightmare. I mean just now as we said they go with the open top down comes the rain.
DICKIE ARBITER, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's one of those nightmares you can't predict. I remember years ago the Queen used to ride in truth into color, it rained cats and dogs overnight. They almost thought of calling it off. They didn't. The sun came out for trooping. By the time the Queen got down back to Buckingham Palace, the heavens opened. There's a marvelous picture of her sitting astride Burmese in the center gateway with her head sort of crunched over because the rain is just lashing down.
MITCHELL: The (INAUDIBLE) was before that. I want to talk to Andrew about last night's concert which was an incredible extravaganza ending with madness on the roof and all sorts of pyrotechnics and stuff. You were involved in this record called (INAUDIBLE) which is the charity record that came out for the jubilee. Tell me about that.
WEBBER: Well, that's the official song which I had written with (INAUDIBLE) Gary Barlow. And it was great last night because we wanted to celebrate one thing. And just to pick up on what David said today -- didn't I say sir?
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: My good lord.
WEBBER: The one thing I would wanted to do was to celebrate her involvement with the commonwealth. In a way that's the unsaid thing that really in a multicultural society like Britain today, I think it's the fact that she kept the commonwealth together in the ways that she has for 60 years that's the thing she'll be most remembered for.
We wanted to try to be as inclusive as we could. We had a lot.
BALDWIN: Tambourine.
WEBBER: Tambourine, very moving performance.
MORGAN: What was it like, Andrew, you were on the stage at the end when everyone came out.
BALDWIN: What did that feel like?
MORGAN: The queen and Prince Charles made that great speech. How was it to be there?
WEBBER: The thing I enjoyed the most at the beginning this wasn't shown on television but I went out with Gary Barlow, who directed the choir and rehearsed the whole audience. That was fun.
You were not completely on duty, yet but a huge sight and the people down the Mall is amazing.
BALDWIN: Here she is back to more live pictures. This is the queen walking solo without her husband, Prince Phillip, because she's in hospital because of this bladder infection.
It looks like this luncheon is over. And she's walking outside and the big moment we're waiting for, despite rain we hear on the set roof, is the fact that she will take the open carriage, state landau which last time we saw this particular carriage publicly was when we saw William and Kate heading from the abbey to the palace.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: So, it was the famous carriage. And the fact that they opted for an open top does mean that they are pretty about the weather.
BALDWIN: Will the queen have an umbrella in such a carriage?
MORGAN: I'll have (INAUDIBLE), I would imagine. Dickie, you would know the answer to this.
DICKIE ARBITER: It's a carriage umbrella. If it's just a minute drizzle, it will be a carriage umbrella. What's interesting is Prince Phillip is not here, he was carriage driving yesterday morning.
MORGAN: Is he really?
ARBITER: He was actually carriage driving at the age of 90, 91 on Sunday. So they must have been concerned to take him to hospital after that.
MORGAN: David, talk to me about Prince Phillip. He's the man who is not here today. But what an amazing rock he has been to the queen.
SIR DAVID FROST, JOURNALIST: Incredible rock. She's recently said it more clearly than ever and he has been incredible because -- it is arguably one of the most difficult roles in the world, how you stay a consult and yet you stay respected as well.
MORGAN: We're watching the queen now getting into the landau carriage. Let's watch a bit of this, because this is a piece of history.
(INAUDIBLE)
BALDWIN: So, now, you can see the queen and because her husband is not well, she's now being joined -- this was a bit of last-minute change this morning. She's now joined by her son, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla. It will no longer be this three-carriage procession. It will be two. The first carriage you see here. The second carriage will be Prince Harry, William and Catherine.
And so they will begin this procession which will take them past Trafalgar Square where this massive crowd is that will be opened up and able to walk along the Mall. But before they do, she of course goes up the mall and to Buckingham Palace.
Here's my question, Dickie, to you the significance of this particular procession. Does this more or less emulate what happened back in 1953, June 2nd when she was coordinated? Is it the same procession or slightly different?
ARBITER: It's slightly different. It was a very large procession in 1953, 59 years ago. It went quite a considerable way around London. This is a very short ceremonial procession. It adds a little bit of pageantry to today.
MORGAN: I'm going to stop you. We have to take a quick break. We'll be back right in time hopefully for the carriage to arrive at Trafalgar Square.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: You are watching live pictures of the queen in her diamond jubilee, coming up from Sloane Square in London to Trafalgar Square. She just passed the prime minister's residence, 10 Downing Street. She's in the open carriage. The weather has held on just long enough for her majesty. You have the household cavalry at the front. A really spectacular sight.
I don't know if it gets much better than this, but David Frost, in all of yours years in watching the royals, there's something very magical about this weekend I'm detecting.
FROST: There is. Something to do with the age factor that there is this love for the queen and there is the same feeling that they may not quite be a weekend like this ever again, with this family.
MORGAN: What is the magic of the queen? Why is she so revered not just in this country but around the world?
FROST: I think she represents something which is constant in the changing world.
BALDWIN: Stability.
FROST: I think it is that. I think the fact that we know that her values are extraordinary. I mean, when she gave that speech to the United Nations two or three years ago, I had the great fortune to have sat next to her when she was talking about what was going on with the speech. Everything was from here, from the heart. Not from up there. It wasn't what an adviser was telling her to do. It's what she wanted to say about religious tolerance.
BALDWIN: I have to ask, just what in the world is that like sitting next to the queen? What is that experience like? I just never ever have --
FROST: Not quite as nerve-racking as when we did a private party for her birthday. She is as close to me as to me when we performed the new song. In fact she heard it before. She came down to our house, we played it.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let me get you to hold that thought. Let's just watch. I want that answer in a moment.
MORGAN: This is great. This is the queen arriving toward Trafalgar Square. The crowds are huge. Really joyous celebration. Let's watch a bit of this.
(INAUDIBLE)
BALDWIN: We're on. We're caught getting our own videos here.
MORGAN: The queen is actually coming behind us into the palace. And you can hear the roar.
BALDWIN: The cavalry now entered the main gate.
MORGAN: No finer sight than household cavalry leading the queen home to Buckingham Palace. It's really spine-tingling.
BALDWIN: You can still see the stage set up from last night. Just imagine -- there she is.
MORGAN: The majesty. The queen of England.
BALDWIN: Oh my goodness.
The 60-gun salute still going off as she enters the main gate.
MORGAN: Wonderful scenes.
BALDWIN: Not too far behind them the carriage with William, Catherine and Harry.
(INAUDIBLE)
BALDWIN: And now she's home.
MORGAN: Did you see the flag up there? That's the royal standard which only flies in all its splendor when the queen is in residence as she now is. Famous flag when Diana died there was controversy because the flag wasn't lowered but it was never lowered for anybody. It's a flag that goes up when the queen is at her home. Magnificent sight.
As you said, medieval.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is almost medieval, isn't it? It's wonderful how the wind is catching it and showing it in its full glory. It doesn't happen often. A flag like that only flies on major state occasions which this is.
MORGAN: Even for Lord Lloyd Webber, you guys who have been knighted and tapped and bestowed a great honor to watch that it was quite something, wasn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was extraordinary. We do it best.
MORGAN: We do, don't we?
BALDWIN: Let's go to Richard Quest, because I have to say, Richard, she's 86 years young. She had a rock concert at her home last night and she looks pretty good, unlike Queen Victoria who needed help getting out of the carriage when she was celebrating her 60 years in 1897. The queen looks good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stamina is fantastic.
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Here we have the queen getting out of the carriage, 86 years old. Let's just watch.
Presentation from the household, and the other carriage now arriving as well. This is the last we'll see of the queen before she appears on the balcony just an hour or so with senior members of the royal family now going inside.
The duke and duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, all the immediate members of the family directly in line of succession, they will be the ones that will be on the balcony with her majesty.
So, Brooke, that's the last we'll see of the queen for a while. Probably kicking off her shoes for a moment having a cup of tea or whatever, while she gets ready for this amazing balcony appearance.
Here in Trafalgar Square, the people will now start to move and start to try to get down the Mall as far as they can.
Now, you're going to have a mad dash to the palace. You'll have a million Brits surging at high speed up the Mall to get the best vantage points because in 15 minutes the queen will lead her family to the balcony. We'll go for a short break and be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: You're looking at live pictures from Buckingham Palace. The queen is now inside the palace. We're waiting for the big balcony scene that will come very shortly.
You'll se in the cannons here blasting out the famous gun salute to the queen on the diamond jubilee. Some extraordinary scenes. To be this close is quite spine-tingly.
I mean, Brooke, you have never seen this.
BALDWIN: I sat here with an iPhone on live TV shooting my own video. It's tremendous to be this close to the queen in this open carriage and just walking in here for us to get in and anyone to get in this morning, we were clearly going through metal detectors. Security is intense.
I have gotten a lot of questions through Twitter, a lot of people have been wondering how are they affording all of this because certainly this country has seen its issues with austerity cuts and crisis, but it's important to underscore while this is 10.5 million pounds in cost, it's privately funded and taxpayers foot the bill for security.
MORGAN: I think it's worth pointing out this is all moving quite fast today. There's a reason for that. It's called the British weather. We've got a great map of what was going on earlier.
I suspect the organizers were looking at very carefully which is the impending rain moving into London at a high speed. Everything has been speed up today.
BALDWIN: It's ahead of as you would say, schedule.
MORGAN: It's ahead of our schedule. For American viewers, schedule.
BALDWIN: Schedule.
So, again so as we look at these live pictures as we begin to see the crowds --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Do we have the weather map?
MORGAN: You can see the weather map and you can see the rain if we can go to that.
BALDWIN: There we go, that blue blob.
MORGAN: It's moving in like some horrible hydra about to swallow the entire area so they all got together and thought we were not going to be beaten by the weather.
So, David Frost, this is the queen at her best. She can even drive the weather.
FROST: Absolutely. Absolutely. This has been a triumph these three days over the weather. This is a real British summer with sun but with rain as well.
BALDWIN: That's what British summer means. A fickle forecast, my friends.
(LAUGHTER)
FROST: This has been a triumph over all of the elements and this is the latest triumph coming up now wherever they are coming from now. Watch out for them. They are coming.
BALDWN: We are hoping for the flag pass.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: The weather needs to hold off another half hour or so. We could see the great air displays that we can put on as a country.
This is what I love most. It's like the January and July sales outside. The British public realizing it's time to get to the palace fast for the balcony scene. They are charging on mass up the Mall and soon right behind us it will all be -- I have to say the skies are closing in. There is a dashing.
BALDWIN: There we go. The beautiful royal standard meaning she's in residence over the Buckingham Palace.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I don't want to say the words and go to a break. As we have to come back, those clouds may have descended. But we are going to break.
Don't forget to follow our live blog at CNN.com/Jubilee.
(INAUDIBLE) for about another half hour of no rain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Welcome back to London for the final stages of the queen's diamond jubilee celebrations. Very exciting behind me because the crowd about a million Brits and tourists obviously flooding down the Mall to get to the palace where very shortly we'll wait for the queen to walk out on that famous balcony with her family and salute her subjects, her people, the people who Sir David Frost for the last 60 years have revered this woman and today is a great day to thank her, isn't it?
FROST: Great day to thank her. Also it's a great day and great time in her popularity. She's always been popular but today one senses that this is a real peak of acclaim for her, every day.
MORGAN: After the death of Princess Diana, there was a definite drop in the popularity for the monarchy and questions began to be asked about whether there would be a monarchy going forward. We can't help but thinking a few things have happened to change that. The key one think being William and Kate and royal wedding and so on.
But also I think this celebration has really energized everyone's attention again and made people realize how lucky we are in this country to have a royal family like this.
FROST: Absolutely. And the roads (INAUDIBLE) that you mentioned played a big part but also I think back to that crisis at the time of the death of Diana and that very memorable live speech pulling things together that the queen made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She made...
BALDWIN: So, you know, grandmother first...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she made it here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She came down from Balmoral. She had no crown, no tiara. She spoke, as she said, as a grandmother and so on. And it was a remarkably moving speech, which reconnected her with a very difficult moment with the people.
And, you know, you can have all the pomp and ceremony you like, but there's a moment when the queen will be standing there, waving down at a million people in front of her and both sets, the queen and the people, owing each other a great debt, I think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. And last -- and last night, again, at the end of the concert, I mean she was clearly moved, close to tears then, I mean really moved, wasn't she?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you tell her mood?
I mean it's only when you're here when you watch these things on television -- and we watch it all around the world here -- you get a sense of what it's like. But when you're actually physically here, that moment when the Household Cavalry led in the royal carriages was really quite magnificent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brooke, what did you think?
BALDWIN: One of -- one of the questions I have -- and I know we have to get -- to -- to go to break, but ladies on the end, we have Katie Nicholl and India Hicks.
And, India, you were one of Princess Diana's five bridesmaids.
We'll go to break, but on the other side, I want you to describe to us what in the world that feeling is like, standing on that balcony with all the -- the crowds of her people. She was the people's princess -- all below. And Katie, the significance of who exactly gets to step out on that royal balcony.
So much more from our Diamond Jubilee celebration live here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(music)
BALDWIN: Well, welcome back.
The crowds are beginning to fill the mau here right in front of Buckingham Palace. And somewhere down there, we have Becky Anderson, I'm sure surrounded by all of this -- Becky, tell us where you are and why these people wait to see the queen.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
Good to see you guys.
And as the bands make their way down, we've got a -- a slew of people here. I've got to say, in inimitable British fashion, everybody is being fairly quiet.
But let me tell you, as soon as this area is opened over here, people will dash toward the gates. And let me tell you, three constant things in the U.K. -- the weather, the queen and the fact that Beck (INAUDIBLE) control and get herself for you down in front of these gates.
But before we do, just a couple of friends here today who've come down to enjoy the festivities.
Good stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
ANDERSON: So you're really -- you're really enjoying it, are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ANDERSON: What are you looking forward to, mates, at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The queen coming out on the balcony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to see the family together (INAUDIBLE).
ANDERSON: Yes. And isn't it marvelous, you can see the bands going past?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is wonderful, yes. I really enjoy today.
ANDERSON: Yes. Fantastic.
Did you see the concert last night?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ANDERSON: Fantastic. Good stuff.
All right, well, as I say, (INAUDIBLE). They're being fairly quiet. But the mad dash will be on (INAUDIBLE) over here (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just one thing -- one of the marching bands here with the palace -- we're watching one of the marching bands here at the palace. And let's get a look at this, because you don't see this very often and we'll never see another Diamond Jubilee again. So let's soak in a bit of the atmosphere.
BALDWIN: Just look at the crowds and you can just hear the band. You probably can still pick up the band over our microphone, but you can just feel it all around. All these people, thousands and thousands, perhaps a million, surrounding Buckingham Palace, as we're all waiting for the big moment. There's this huge balcony over our shoulders where we will see the queen and her closest members of the royal family.
Here you go. And we're moments away from that.
I want to bring in...
MORGAN: Look at that. These crowds, I mean look at the scene. I mean you just don't see this anywhere in the world.
BALDWIN: While we're waiting for the big wave, no kisses today. That was last year...
MORGAN: How do you know?
BALDWIN: -- at the royal wedding.
MORGAN: How do you know?
BALDWIN: Because her husband isn't here.
MORGAN: Yes, but there might be other kissing on the balcony.
BALDWIN: Well, (INAUDIBLE)...
MORGAN: There's always kissing on a royal balcony.
BALDWIN: We want to welcome in Philippa Gregory. She is the best-selling author.
Her book is called "The Changeling."
Welcome back.
PHILIPPA GREGORY, AUTHOR, "THE CHANGELING": Thank you.
BALDWIN: I think you brought some better weather today.
GREGORY: Yes, I...
BALDWIN: We appreciate that very much.
We also have India Hicks and Katie Nicholl.
And -- and my question to you, Katie Nicholl, is just the significance of who we will be seeing in a matter of minutes out on that balcony?
It's the closest of the royals, yes?
KATIE NICHOLL: Yes. Well, it should be, of course, the Duke of Edinboro. He's not here. The Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. That is it.
Usually, at the queen's birthday parade, you get to see the whole plethora of the royal family. Not this time. The Golden Jubilee has been very different -- done, would you believe, being different to the Golden Jubilee and the Silver Jubilee, where you had a lot of members of the royal family up there.
This is a slimmed down appearance by the monarchy.
BALDWIN: Why?
KING: Because it's all about the line of succession. And the queen is sending out a very clear message by sending her heir and her other heir out there. And that is what this is all about.
MORGAN: Also, these are the rock stars, let's be honest. I mean the royal family has -- I mean your number, India, is 678 in the line of (INAUDIBLE). There are a lot of you.
So I think what we're seeing today is the rock stars of the royals. And they are rock stars. And the queen right now, (INAUDIBLE), is the biggest star in the world. And that's why everyone is going so crazy.
BALDWIN: We have to get a quick break in.
India, I do want you to answer the question as to what in the world that feels like, being on the balcony. We're going to get to that.
Keep taking a look at these beautiful pictures.
A quick break here.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Welcome back to London.
We are moments away from the big moment of the queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the balcony scene.
We have with us India Hicks.
India, you've been on that balcony.
Out of interest, when you're all standing behind the curtains waiting to come out, what are you all doing?
INDIA HICKS: Chatting. Catching up with family gossip.
MORGAN: About -- about what?
HICKS: Lots of family gossip.
MORGAN: About what?
HICKS: And drinking homemade lemon refresher. The queen loves the homemade lemon refresher.
BALDWIN: Lemon refresher?
HICKS: Yes. Yes.
But the footmen now will be beginning to open those glass doors and the -- the -- the rock stars, as you say, will be beginning to make their way to the front. And everybody just knows who's going to be out there. There will be a gentle push at the elbow.
But I mean, I must say, standing on that balcony and looking down at thousands upon thousands of upturned faces is extraordinary.
But what's so extraordinary is that it's very unusual to see peaceful crowds. So often we see rioting crowds or football hooligans or crowds protesting.
How often do we see thousands upon thousands of crowds (INAUDIBLE)?
MORGAN: (INAUDIBLE), you and I had a little disagreement about the merits of Queen Elizabeth in the standing of great monarchs. I believe she may well be the greatest, because I believe that, actually, after Diana's death, there was a possibility the monarchy could have come to an end.
And now you see these scenes and you think they've bought themselves at least another couple of generations, I would imagine.
But more important, the queen as a role model to the British people. Talk to me about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, again, I was thinking about our disagreement, as well. And I think if it hadn't been quite so wet and cold, I might...
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I might have been...
BALDWIN: She blames the weather.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- I might have been more generous and less Republican. But I have to say to you, I think that she's a fine -- a fine woman. She's a magnificent Englishwoman. She's certainly an example to particularly her generation, of how to be a mother and the grandmother and a -- a really hard-working woman.
MORGAN: But there's that great saying, isn't there, keep calm, carry on. And she...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
MORGAN: -- absolutely...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She absolutely does.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MORGAN: How many 86-year-old women with their 90-year-old husband in hospital would be out here performing ceremonial duty...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MORGAN: -- as she is and looking like she's enjoying it, or trying to
