Flashback to 2002: Party at the Palace for the Queen's Golden Jubilee

Queen rock group member Brian May played the national anthem on his electric guitar from the palace roof at the start of the spectacular concert to mark her Golden Jubilee.

Legends of rock from the past 50 years lined up with the newest pop talent in a thrilling showcase in Buckingham Palace gardens.

The lucky few thousand who got tickets to the biggest gig of the year, many dressed in patriotic red, white and blue, were joined by a record-breaking one million-strong crowd who thronged the streets outside the palace and billions more who watched the concert in 60 countries across the world.

As VIP guests including Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry. joined by members of the Government including Tony Blair, entered the royal box at the start of the concert, all eyes turned to them and it seemed for a while that people would spend the whole concert with their backs to the stage looking at the Royal family.

But the draw of the concert, kicked off in upbeat style by Latin American singer Ricky Martin, eventually forced everyone to turn around and soon the only attention the royal box drew was the odd sneaky look when one of the comperes made a comment or joke about one of the famous faces.

The young princes laughed and ribbed Prince Charles when Dudley-born comic Lenny Henry did an impression of their father complete with an Ali G 'respec’', in tribute to the late Queen Mother who, it appears, was a fan.

Groups including S Club 7, making their last appearance as a seven-strong group before the departure of Paul Cattermole, Pop Idol Will Young, boy band Blue and girl groups Atomic Kitten and Mis-Teeq were among those winning the vote of the younger viewers.

Many teamed up with the older rockers to produce some memorable performances. Blue’s rendition of You Can Leave Your Hat On with Tom Jones was particularly good, but the really impressive performances came from the true rock legends.

Midlands-born rock wild man Ozzy Osbourne, who famously once bit the head off a live bat on stage, won one of the biggest cheers of the night and prompted chants of 'Ozzy, Ozzy' following his performance of his classic hit Paranoid.

Brian Wilson was charmingly off-beat and still in fantastic voice as he led an eclectic group including Eric Clapton in covers of Beach Boys classics.

Queen’s medley including the anthemic We Will Rock You while We Are the Champions got everyone singing as if it was the finale.

As the sun went down, the rock heavyweights like Joe Cocker, Ray Davies and Sir Paul McCartney performed leading up to an emotional All You Need Is Love featuring all of the performers crammed on stage.

Nearly five million balloons, printed with the lyrics of the Beatles song, would be distributed by National Lottery outlets, allowing people to join the singalong to be broadcast by the BBC.

The Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry joined all of the performers on the stage and Prince Charles addressed the adoring crowd, describing the concert as unforgettable.

Among those who attended the spectacular event was Gillian Turner and her 15 year-old daughter Miranda, from Staffordshire.

When she arrived at the palace, they were given a cool bag containing champagne and smoked salmon.

Gillian said: "We got a good view of the stage and a good view of the Royal Family as well.

"You have to walk through the palace to get to the gardens so I got a quick look inside.

"There was a lot of high security but you could wander all over and around the gardens.

"When the Queen came out everybody was shouting and cheering, I think she could be in no doubt how people feel about her."

She added that her daughter enjoyed the performances from Ricky Martin and Atomic Kitten.

"They were all good but to me Brian May and Paul McCartney were the best," said Gillian.

Karen and Richard Bolas, from Newport, South Wales, spent the night before the concert sleeping in their car with their kids Katie, aged 11, Alex, nine, and Erin, five.

Karen said: "The party was just fabulous. The kids really enjoyed it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, they're seeing history."