The royals plan global tour for queen's jubilee

The royal family will embark on a global tour next year as part of celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne, Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday.

Senior royals will visit every realm where the queen is head of state as well as trips to other major countries in the Commonwealth.

The queen herself will embark on a tour of the United Kingdom, starting in London in March before taking in every region across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the next few months.

Heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will visit Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, while his son Prince William and his new wife Kate will travel to Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

William's brother Prince Harry will head to Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

The main festivities to mark the queen's diamond jubilee will take place over four days next June with a flotilla on the River Thames and a concert at Buckingham Palace.

Earlier this year, the 85-year-old, who acceded to the throne on the death of her father George VI in February 1952, became the second-longest reigning monarch in more than 1,000 years of British history.