Queen Plans UK Tour To Mark Diamond Jubilee

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will mark next year's Diamond Jubilee with a five-month 'four corners' tour of the UK.

The royal couple will "travel as widely as possible" across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to mark 60 years of the Queen's reign, Buckingham Palace announced today.

The 85-year-old monarch and the Duke, 90, will begin in North London on March 29.

The tour will take in the Diamond Jubilee weekend on June 2 and 3, when the Queen will attend the Epsom Derby and the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant .

Meanwhile, the rest of the royal family will carry out celebratory overseas trips, visiting 15 countries in all.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands.

Their visits are not expected to be undertaken until after Prince William returns from a tour of duty in the Falklands in February.

The Duchess of Cornwall will accompany Prince Charles to Australia where in 1994 he was attacked by a student armed with a starting pistol.

The heir to the throne will also travel to Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Prince Harry will undertake his first coming-of-age foreign tour, visiting Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

The announcement showed a clear shift in duties for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, adding weight to the idea that the couple's tour of Australia in November was their last long-haul trip.

Other members of the royal family travelling overseas as part of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations are: the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.