The Queen heads to the races on first day of Diamond Jubilee celebrations

BRITS turn out in droves to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee with gun salutes and a spot of tea.

Britain Queen's Jubilee

THE Queen spent the first official day of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations indulging in one of her favorite passions - horses.

The 86-year-old monarch, who is celebrating six decades on the throne with four days of festivities, attended the Epsom Derby - considered one of the most exciting and prestigious horse races in the world.

She and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, 90, were given an affectionate welcome from a crowd of about 130,000 race-goers as the royal motorcade entered the stadium in Surrey, southeastern England, and took a quick spin along the course.

In pictures: Celebrations kick off for Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The Queen, wearing an elegant floral print dress and royal blue jacket and hat, joined a large party including the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, before visiting the paddock to inspect some of the horses running in the Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup.

The Queen

With the jubilee party officially kicking off Saturday across Britain, thousands of miles of bunting was festooned over England and Wales, and almost 9500 road closure applications were granted for street parties.

Celebrities including Sir Michael Caine, Simon Cowell, Russell Brand and the band Radiohead are gearing up for planned celebrations.

The centerpiece of festivities will be a 11.2km flotilla made up of 1000 boats sailing past the Queen on London's River Thames, billed as one of the greatest spectacles the river has ever seen.

Caine lives at Chelsea Harbour and said he was excited at having front row seats for the celebrations.

"The Queen gets on her boat right outside my house. Genius. We'll be able to see her and wave her off," Caine told The (London) Sunday Times.

Australians honour Queen's reign

Opposition leader Tony Abbott and NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell were among hundreds to celebrate the reign of Queen Elizabeth at a special Diamond Jubilee service at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral.

The 800-capacity cathedral was nearly full despite the rather British weather. The sound of rain on the roof competed with God Save the Queen, led by the St Andrew's boys choir.

Diamond Jubilee celebrations

In the UK, Heathrow Airport rehearsed worst-case baggage-handling situations to prepare for the arrival of nearly 800,000 overseas travelers and well-wishers, and supermarket chain Tesco expects to sell 200,000 bottles of champagne.

Despite the countrywide excitement, there was a dark cloud hanging over the celebrations, literally - but although the day started out bleak for parts of England, the weather began to clear in several places by the afternoon.

The extended public holiday weekend began with a bang Friday night in Portsmouth, on the southern coast of England, where the HMS Diamond fired a 21-gun salute in honour of the queen.

Britain Queen's Jubilee

On Sunday, Her Majesty will board a royal barge on the River Thames and lead a flotilla of 1000 vessels in a grand maritime pageant. More than a million people are expected to gather along the river to witness the spectacular event.

A Diamond Jubilee concert is arranged for Monday, with Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Kylie Minogue performing.

The queen's party will culminate at a thanksgiving service at London's St. Paul's Cathedral and a royal carriage procession through the heart of the capital.

120601 Britain Queen's Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth in numbers

Britain is celebrating the diamond jubilee of The Queen, marking 60 years on the throne during which she has set a number of landmarks.

Here are some facts and figures about her reign and the jubilee festivities:

- Queen Victoria was the last and the only previous British monarch to celebrate a diamond jubilee, in 1897. The Queen is the oldest British monarch to celebrate one, being 85 on the 60th anniversary of her accession, while Victoria was 77.

- Only three other world head of states have celebrated diamond jubilees during The Queen's reign. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej marked his in 2006; the Sultan of Johor, which is now part of Malaysia, celebrated his in 1955; and Emperor Hirohito of Japan celebrated his in 1986.

- The Queen is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror who obtained the crown of England in 1066.

- There have been 12 British prime ministers since the queen acceded to the throne. Winston Churchill was the first. She met current premier David Cameron when he was nine years old and acting in a production of The Wind in the Willows, playing a rabbit to the mole of her youngest son Prince Edward.

- There have been 11 US presidents during her reign. She has met all of them except Lyndon Johnson.

- There have been six Popes during the queen's reign (Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI).

- The Queen has launched 21 ships.

- The Queen has sat for 129 portraits during her time on the throne.

- The Queen has answered around 3.5 million items of correspondence during her reign, and she and her husband Prince Philip have sent around 45,000 Christmas cards.

- She has been on 261 official overseas visits to 116 different countries since becoming queen. She has visited Australia 16 times, Canada 22 times, Jamaica 6 times and New Zealand 10 times.

- Almost 1.5 million people have attended The Queen's garden parties at Buckingham Palace in London or at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

- The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis, starting with Susan, who was a present for her 18th birthday in 1944. Many have been direct descendants from Susan. She currently has three corgis: Monty, Willow and Holly.

- The Queen introduced a new breed of dog known as the "dorgi" when one of her corgis was mated with a dachshund.

(Source: The official website of the Diamond Jubilee; Prime Minister David Cameron's office)