An exhibition will feature objects and photographs demonstrating the 95-year-old monarch's love of horses and other animals and the great outdoors she enjoys so much on the 20,000-acre estate. It will also include an audiovisual display focusing on the Queen's first televised Christmas Day message, broadcast from Sandringham House in 1957.

       And, throughout the Platinum Jubilee double bank holiday weekend, the royal estate will stage a series of events to mark the Queen becoming the first British monarch to reign for 70 years.

       Sandringham's jubilee beacon will be lit on Thursday, June 2, one of 1,500 across the UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man.

       Katherine Jenkins and The Military Wives will perform a live outdoor music concert on Friday June 3 and the BBC Platinum Party at the Palace will be shown on a big screen in the Royal Parkland the next day.

       The weekend will conclude with a pageant of motoring, live music and aerial displays alongside a variety of culinary delights ？ including a special Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea and picnic available from the restaurant.

       The exhibition will open to visitors at Sandringham House from April 9 until October 13.

       Elsewhere, the Ministry of Defence will this week put tickets for the Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) on sale.