The weather gods smiled on the Diamond Jubilee Concert outside the gates of Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.
In contrast to the sheets of rain that threatened to overwhelm the flotilla at the weekend, it was a cold but dry evening when a catalogue of stars took to the stage to sing for Her Majesty, and pay tribute to her 60 years of monarchy.
Possibly the most grateful for the clear night were Ska group Madness, who stepped into Brian May's shoes of a decade ago, standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace to sing Our House, no less. Their performance was enhanced beyond all expectation by an animated projection that unpeeled in layers across the front of the palace, to be replaced by a floating heart for It Must Be Love.
Madness (top right) take their turn on the roof, singing Our House
HM The Queen took her seat 90 minutes into the celebrations taking place in front of Buckingham Palace, joining a reported 100,000 revellers partying along the Mall and into St James's Park.
The duty of kick-starting the show fell to Robbie Williams - bandmate of the evening's organiser Gary Barlow - who took to the floor for a suitably crowd-rousing rendition of Let Me Entertain You.
Robbie Williams was given the responsibility of opening the show
He later returned to the stage, showing his versatile abilities with a jazzy version of Mack The Knife - with lyrics suitably customised to honour the event, including references to Cheryl Cole, TOWIE and Royal Box incumbents Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
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One of the highlights of the evening was when the 200-strong musicians on Barlow's official Jubilee song, Sing, came together to perform on stage. It was a technical challenge of mammoth proportions for sound engineers - balancing soloists with drums, let alone Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber on a grand piano in the middle - but they, for the most part, pulled it off.
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Voice coaches Will.i.am and Jessie J entertained the crowd with I've Got A Feeling, and Barlow delighted the fans with a duet with nation's sweetheart Cheryl Cole.
Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole - a pairing guaranteed to please the crowds
Another The Voice coach Sir Tom hardly needed a microphone to reach the crowd at the other end of the Mall as he belted out his stalwart people-pleasers Mama Told Me Not To Come and Delilah.
Fellow Welsh superstar Dame Shirley Bassey also knew how to please the crowd, giving them a note-perfect Diamonds Are Forever, in fitting with the celebration.
Adopted London lass, formerly of Melbourne, Kylie Minogue paid tribute to her longtime home, dressed as a Pearly Queen, and treated her fans to a montage of hits, including Step Back in Time, Can't Get You Out Of My Head and a high-octane All The Lovers.
Kylie paid tribute to her London home, with some striking Pearly Queen garb
Sir Elton John, only recently recovered from a respiratory infection that put him in hospital last week, was just as glittery in a sparkling pink blazer that matched his glasses. He was on as high-quality form as ever, sitting at the piano for I'm Still Standing, Your Song and Crocodile Rock.
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Overseas superstardom came in the form of Stevie Wonder, singing his staple Sir Duke, and the mellifluous Isn't She Lovely. He was then joined by adopted British national treasure Will.i.am for Happy Birthday, before they provided some world-quality funk in the form of Superstition, whose strong chords got even the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and members of the BBC Concert Orchestra head-swaying and clapping.
Barlow can pride himself on a delightfully eclectic bill, with turns from a diverse range of acts, including JLS, Ed Sheeran, Ruby Turner and Grace Jones, in the most distinctive outfit of the night.
And Annie Lennox matched Jones for fancy-dress, with her angelic garb for There Must Be An Angel.
Classical music was represented by Chinese pianist Lang Lang, musical star Alfie Boe and opera singer Renee Fleming. The latter pair had the chance to take advantage of some uniquely dramatic staging, belting out West Side Story ballad Somewhere from the right-hand-side royal balcony.
Sir Cliff Richard gave the crowd a montage of hits from every decade throughout the Queen's 60-year reign, including Devil Woman and Wired For Sound.
And topping the bill was the ever-youthful Sir Paul McCartney, who launched into Magical Mystery Tour to start his set, which went on to include All My Lovin', the ever-rousing Let It Be and the second Bond theme of the night, Live and Let Die.
To mark the occasion, Sir Paul swapped his beloved Hofner bass for a specially-adapted Union Jack version to finish the night with Obladi Oblada, which brought all the evening's performers out on stage to join him.
Much to the delight of the crowd, the Queen then joined them, along with the Prince of Wales, who gave a thank-you speech to the 600 technicians, all the musicians, and to Gary Barlow for organising the whole thing.
He also gave a moving tribute to the monarch's 60 years of service, along with a mention for his absent father, before the Queen concluded the festivities by lighting the Jubilee Beacon. Fireworks finished the evening off, flying high into the London sky.
Diamond Jubilee concert stars in action...