Queen Elizabeth, Philip To Celebrate

They’ll have a celebratory lunch, mingle with the masses, even dance a little.

But the main focus of celebrations marking the 50th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey, where they were married Nov. 20, 1947, Buckingham Palace announced Wednesday.

The service will be followed by a royal walkabout. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair will play host at a lunch for the couple in Westminster’s 17th century Banqueting House.

In the evening, the royals will hold a private dance at Windsor Castle, their weekend home west of London.

On July 15, about 4,000 British couples who married in 1947 will attend an anniversary garden party with the queen and her husband at Buckingham Palace. They were chosen by lot from more than 40,000 couples from Britain and its former colonies.