Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, center, accompanied by Prince Charles and the Duchess if Cornwall, left, Prince William, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in central London, Tuesday, June 5, 2012, to conclude the four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON | Pealing church bells, artillery salutes and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne.

Poignantly, the queen was without Prince Philip, her husband of 64 years, who was hospitalized on Monday for treatment of a bladder infection.

The British Rpyal Air Force Red Arrows fly in formation over Buckingham Palace in London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee as the royal family stood on the balcony Tuesday June 5, 2012. Pealing church bells and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Macdiarmid/Pool)
Revelers fill the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace in London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee as the royal family stood on the balcony Tuesday June 5, 2012. Pealing church bells and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Anthony Devlin/Pool)
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight of the Royal Air Force fly in formation over Buckingham Palace in London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee as the royal family stood on the balcony Tuesday June 5, 2012. Pealing church bells and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Macdiarmid/Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral as the Diamond Jubilee celebrations continue. Tuesday June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/ Lewis Whyld/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE
Kate, Duchess of Cambridge talks to religious leaders as she arrives at St Paul’s Cathedral for a national service of thanksgiving for the Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in London, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, foreground centre, arrives inside St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving during Diamond Jubilee celebrations on Tuesday June 5, 2012 in London. (AP Photo/Jeff J Mitchell, Pool)
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge take an open top carriage ride through the streets of London after a Diamond Jubilee Luncheon given for The Queen, Tuesday June 5, 2012 . Crowds cheering “God save the queen!” and pealing church bells greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of celebrations of her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/Pool)
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge take an open top carriage ride through the streets of London after a Diamond Jubilee Luncheon given for The Queen, Tuesday June 5, 2012 . Crowds cheering “God save the queen!” and pealing church bells greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of celebrations of her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II leaves Westminster Hall in London after a Diamond Jubilee Luncheon given for The Queen, Tuesday June 5, 2012 . Crowds cheering “God save the queen!” and pealing church bells greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of celebrations of her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/Pool)
Britain.s Queen Elizabeth II travels by carriage to Buckingham Palace with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall after a lunch at Westminster Hall in London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Crowds cheering “God save the queen!” and pealing church bells greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of celebrations of her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne, Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth facing camera left, with Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, ride in a carriage as they head for Buckingham Palace in a carriage procession in London Tuesday June 5, 2012. The carriage procession is part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel/Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a service of thanksgiving to celebrate her 60-year reign during Diamond Jubilee celebrations in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II departs St Paul’s Cathedral, London with the Dean of St Paul’s David Ison, left, following a service of thanksgiving on the last day of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Crowds cheering “God save the queen!” and pealing church bells greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of celebrations of her 60 years on the throne.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II holds a bouquet of flowers as she returns to Buckingham Palace after attending a service of thanksgiving and a lunch in honour of the Diamond Jubilee in London,Tuesday June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Carl Cort, Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, travel in a carriage through Trafalgar Square, London on route to Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Tuesday June 5, 2012. Nelson’s Column is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Anthony Devlin/Pool)
Queen Elizabeth II, in carriage 2nd right, travels along Parliament Street to Buckingham Palace with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, after having lunch in Westminster Hall, London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Pealing church bells and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Matthew Lloyd, Pool)
Royal Air force Red Arrow display team fly pass Buckingham Palace in London where Britain Queen Elizabeth II watches from the palace balcony as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Soldiers move along The Mall to take their positions as part of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee celebrations, London, Tuesday June 5, 2012. Queen Elizabeth II will make a rare address to the nation at the conclusion of festivities marking her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth , left, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall pass along The Mall as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II accession to the throne, London, Tuesday, June, 5, 2012. Pealing church bells and crowds cheering “God save the queen!” greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as she arrived for a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the last of four days of Diamond Jubilee celebrations honoring her 60 years on the throne. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi, Pool)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, center, accompanied by Prince Charles and the Duchess if Cornwall, left, Prince William, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in central London, Tuesday, June 5, 2012, to conclude the four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

At a morning service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, praised the queen for bringing happiness to the nation. His thoughts were seconded by jubilant crowds that cheered royals major and minor as they made their way to and from the church.

“We are marking six decades of living proof that public service is possible and that it is a place where happiness can be found,” Williams told the royals and dignitaries filling the vast landmark church designed by Christopher Wren in the 17th century.

The queen returned to Buckingham Palace in the afternoon, braving the first few drops of rain in an open carriage, later to appear on the palace balcony with the present and future of the monarchy: her heir Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Prince William, the second-in-line, and his wife Kate, and William’s brother Prince Harry.

There were more cheers as a noisy Lancaster bomber, four Spitfire fighters and a Hurricane fighter — all recalling the nation’s battle for survival in World War II — emerged from the leaden skies to fly over the palace. They were followed by nine jets spewing red, white and blue smoke.

The crowds, forming a sea of bobbing umbrellas, stretched all the way down the Mall, the wide road leading to Buckingham Palace. As the Irish Guards doffed their bearskin hats to lead three cheers for the queen, the 86-year-old monarch beamed.

The Jubilee affirmed the nation’s unmatched skills for staging impressive ceremonies, evoking the power and swagger of its vanished empire. The celebrations demonstrated as well the misery which some Britons will endure — even sleeping outside in a cold rain — in pursuit of a good time.

Philip’s absence caused some hasty rearrangement of preparations but seemed not to dampen the high spirits. Prince Edward, who made a brief visit to the hospital, reported that his father was “getting better.”

Williams paid tribute to the queen for her service to the nation and Commonwealth. It was not a role she chose, but one thrust upon her when her uncle David, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936. The queen’s father became king and Elizabeth, the elder daughter, was destined to reign.

Within the constraints of a constitutional monarchy, the queen’s life has been one of ceremonial duty, world travel and the pleasures of great wealth. She has also been the mother of family that has produced turbulent marriages and traumatic divorces.

“Dedication to the service of a community certainly involves that biblical sense of an absolute purge of selfish goals, but it is also the opening of a door into shared riches,” Williams said.

“I don’t think it’s at all fanciful to say that, in all her public engagements, our queen has shown a quality of joy in the happiness of others; she has responded with just the generosity St. Paul speaks of in showing honor to countless local communities and individuals of every background and class and race,” Williams said.

“She has made her public happy and all the signs are that she is herself happy, fulfilled and at home in these encounters.”

Attired in an outfit of fine silk tulle, embroidered with tiny mint green star-shaped flowers embellished with silver thread, the queen was a small, elegant figure, rarely smiling and often solemn as she followed the service.

As she left the cathedral, the queen paused near a tablet commemorating the Diamond Jubilee service of Queen Victoria in 1897.

Following the service, the queen went to the thousand-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Parliament complex, to join 700 guests from the various Livery Companies — the guilds which originated in the Middle Ages.

Prince William sat at the Worshipful Company of Engineers and Arbitrators table, while his wife Kate was placed with the Master Glovers and Pattenmakers. Prince Harry dined with the Fruiterers and Gardeners.

With most of Tuesday’s events indoors or under cover, there was less worry about the precarious weather, which has ranged from unseasonably cool to downright foul, as rain poured during Sunday’s grand procession of boats down the Thames.

The queen will close the Diamond Jubilee celebrations with a rare address to the nation, to be broadcast at 1700 GMT (1 p.m. EDT) in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth.

The two-minute address, recorded on Monday, will also be available on the Royal Channel on YouTube, the palace said. Other than the annual Christmas Day broadcasts, the 86-year-old monarch has rarely spoken directly to the nation.

President Barack Obama sent a video tribute extending “the heartfelt congratulations of the American people” to the queen. Obama hailed her as “a living witness to the power of our alliance, and a chief source of its resilience.”

Twin sisters Margaret and Dorothy Roake were standing in the Mall more or less where they had been standing on coronation day in 1953. “The coronation was fabulous and this is really special, it makes you feel a reality in being British,” Margaret Roake said.

Benedict Cleotes, 40, from the Philippines, said he came to the Mall at 4 a.m. to claim his spot. “Seeing the queen is very special to me and I want to have something to tell them in the Philippines. They will be jealous,” he said.

Among the early arrivals at the cathedral were four women from Jedburgh, a Scottish town near the English border, who displayed a large Union Jack flag.

“We’ve been saving for three years to come here,” said Marion Kingswood, 69. “Apart from the royal wedding, there’s been nothing like it. Sixty years is such an achievement.”

Barry Dandy, 71, and his wife flew in from Sydney, Australia, to join in the celebrations.

“They showed a preview of the River Pageant on Australian television and my wife said, ‘I’d love to be there,’” Dandy said. “It’s been great to take part in the celebrations.”

The Very Rev. David Ison, the dean of St. Paul’s, said Philip would be remembered in the prayers.

“We were already going to say prayers for the Duke of Edinburgh and it will have an added poignancy as we hope he will make a swift recovery,” Ison said.

A few anti-monarchist demonstrators were outside the cathedral with slogans including “Republic Now!” or, in a shot at the cost of maintaining the monarchy, “9500 Nurses or 1 Queen?”

Royalists in the crowd responded noisily, chanting “God save the queen!”

Along the parade route, 70-year-old Margaret Barker said Philip’s absence would put a damper on the queen’s day.

“She’s got the rest of her family around her but when you think of all the planning there’s been for this and how long they’ve been together, it seems very sad that he can’t be with her today,” Barker said.

Tourist Cassandra Past, 20, from New York, said she expected the queen to keep her chin up despite worries about her 90-year-old husband. “She is the queen, and she sort of has to put on a good face for her country and her people,” Past said.

___