-The Tower of London.

It's 2022, and this will be one of the most extraordinary times in its thousand-year history.

-Torture?

Go down the stairs, to the left.

-It's already seen more famous events than anywhere else in Britain... -Anne Boleyn got her head cut off.

-Guy Fawkes.

-...and 42 monarchs... -William the Conqueror.

-King Henry VIII.

-Bloody Mary.

-...come and go.

Now, with exclusive access, we meet the men and women keeping the Tower running during an incredible 12 months... -Somebody asked if the Tower of London was a new build.

No, it's a thousand years old.

-...as the Tower marks its first ever Platinum Jubilee... -We will never see a Platinum Jubilee again in our lifetime.

-...one of the saddest moments in its history... -The passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

-...and the proclamation of a new king.

-God preserve King Charles III.

-In this episode, Chief Yeoman Warder Pete goes to Windsor Castle to meet the Queen... -Your Majesty, the Commonwealth of Nations globe.

-...the fortress attempts the biggest gun salute in the country.

-We've witnessed some quite major state ceremony occasions, but this is probably going to be the icing on the cake.

-...the Tower's bakers make a Jubilee cupcake inspired by the royal corgis... -It has the face of a lovely dog, and it tastes amazing as well.

The visitors are going to love this.

-...and the Constable, the Tower's most senior official, lights the Platinum Jubilee beacon for the first time in the fortress's history.

-It gives you a feeling of enormous pride to be a part of it and intimately associated with it.

-Welcome to the secret world of the Tower of London.

♪♪ It's the 2nd of June, 2022, but this is no ordinary day at the Tower.

It's the start of the Platinum Jubilee weekend and the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne.

The Queen is the longest-serving monarch the Tower has seen, even in its thousand-year history, and celebrations are kicking off this morning with a major gun salute.

In their office in the Byward Tower, Chief Yeoman Warder Pete MacGowran... -Hello, Richard.

-...and Yeoman Gaoler Rob Fuller are in work early to prepare for a jam-packed day of celebrations.

-Right, Rob, gun salute.

Bigger than normal.

-Yeah.

-This isn't your usual gun salute.

To commemorate the Queen's 70-year reign, there will be 124 rounds fired.

The most attempted by the Tower in centuries.

So the pressure is on for Pete and Rob.

-70th anniversary.

First time.

Whole world's going to be watching this.

All the guys are excited.

Looking forward to it.

-Ordinarily, only a small number of Yeoman Warders attend the gun salutes to control the crowd.

But today, there's likely to be a record turnout of Beefeaters, as wild horses couldn't stop them from taking part in this historic occasion.

-The guys want to be out there.

Let's get them out there.

It's really special to them, you know.

The Platinum Jubilee.

-And there's one part of today's Jubilee salute that RAF veteran Pete is particularly keen to catch.

-Just remember, we've got the flyover.

-Is that why you're getting excited?

-I'm getting excited about that.

Yeah, I'm excited about that.

-We can tell everyone it's just for us.

-Three miles away on the mall, the public start to gather outside Buckingham Palace for the day's celebrations, while visitors from all over the world are already queuing at the Tower's gates.

-Right away, you have picked a cracking day to visit.

-The Tower has played host to kings and queens for nearly 10 centuries, and 70 years ago, it saw the arrival of Queen Elizabeth, its 42nd monarch, when her father, George VI died suddenly.

-The tragic news reached Princess Elizabeth and her husband while in Kenya, and the new queen left immediately for London, where her uncle, the Duke of Gloucester and Earl Mountbatten, uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh, were waiting to welcome the girl who left as a royal ambassador and returned as a queen.

-The 25-year-old Elizabeth was never destined to be queen because her father should never have been king.

He inherited the throne when his brother Edward VIII abdicated.

Once her father died, Elizabeth took on the ultimate service to her country.

-The high and mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is now become Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of This Realm, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

God save the Queen.

♪♪ -Few could have predicted back then seven decades on, we'd be celebrating the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

For the Tower's Yeoman Warders, who have served as official members of the Royal Bodyguard since 1485, this Jubilee weekend marks the most important moment in their life of service.

-We were sworn in at St.

James's as part of the bodyguard, and we wear the Queen's cipher on our chest.

It's not just a tenuous connection.

-We're very proud.

and honored to be here and, yeah, and to be part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

It's going to be an amazing day.

-With over 10,000 visitors expected through the Tower's gates today, the team at the gift shop have been busy stocking up on some special Jubilee souvenirs.

-People love these.

I've got quite a few at home on my shelf because no queen can resist a crown.

-As a huge fan of the royals, customer service assistant Alan Jones has been waiting for this day all year.

-Commemorative chocolate chip biscuits.

Very popular.

My personal favorite, the Platinum Jubilee gin.

I'll be having some of this at my Platinum Jubilee party.

We're going through these very fast.

Something to remember in years to come.

A little part of history that they was at the Tower of London for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

I'm like a kid at Christmas.

This is my dream job, really.

-Some bestsellers even take inspiration from the Yeoman Warders.

-These are quite popular.

They are called Add a Kid.

Parents love to put their babies in these.

We do a Henry VIII one as well.

It's weird seeing a little baby walking around dressed as a little mini Henry VIII.

One was enough.

-As the visitors snap up Jubilee memorabilia, Chief Yeoman Warder Pete is finalizing plans for today's first event.

-So, Chief, I have heard that you're talking about getting the whole Yeoman body on parade.

-Out on the wharf, he's meeting up with Beefeater John Donald to discuss the parade for this morning's massive gun salute.

-How's it going to work?

Where are we going to have the troops?

-Well, basically, the difference is with this one, we're going to have the Yeoman body all along this back pathway here in between the blue lamps with the partisans.

Obviously, the three guns at the front here.

-John helps run the Beefeaters- exclusive club called the Keys, and he's planning a memento of this historic day.

-I think it'd be an amazing opportunity for us to capture that in a photograph during the gun salute.

And that will go up into the club on display.

And it really is, I think, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to tell the story of the Platinum Jubilee and obviously the Yeoman body being on parade for the Queen.

-I think it's a great idea, John.

And all the guys who want to come out here, get as much red on parade as possible.

Fantastic.

-Brilliant.

-Really looking forward to it.

-Coming up, it's an historic first for the Beefeaters as they put on the biggest Jubilee gun salute in the country.

-We've witnessed some quite major state ceremony occasions, but this is probably going to be the icing on the cake, to be honest.

-And the Tower bakers create a cupcake to celebrate the Queen's corgis.

-As you can see, it has the face of a lovely dog and it tastes amazing as well.

I can bet that the visitors are going to love this.

-The Tower of London stands at the heart of a modern city, but it's home to some of the oldest buildings in the country.

Across the centuries, it's had several roles -- as a royal palace, the nation's treasury and armory, and a terrifying prison.

Much of this history can be seen in the names given to its buildings.

-And you'll notice as we're walking around today, everything here is done for a reason.

Everything is named for a reason.

-This is Mint Street, so named because it was in those houses you see behind you there that all coins of the entire realm were designed and produced right up until the year 1810.

-This particular infamous building started life as the Garden Tower.

It was actually William Shakespeare who gave it its informal nickname, the Tower of Blood, in one of his plays, "Richard III," because of the alleged -- the alleged murder of the princes in the tower.

-As well as the buildings, the Tower's ravens have famous names too, and choosing them is a job that falls to the Ravenmaster, a position that has been filled by Chris Skaife for 11 years.

-So one of the most enjoyable parts of my role as Ravenmaster is coming up with names and thinking about the names when we do get a new raven.

-Chris often takes inspiration from real-life figures and historical events.

-We have Grip, and Grip was actually a pet raven that Charles Dickens had, and he used it in his fifth novel of "Barnaby Rudge."

So I thought we'd name one Grip.

And of course we have Poppy, who was named after the poppies that went into the moat in 2014.

Red band on her leg.

That's Poppy for us.

-Today's Platinum Jubilee celebration has meant one raven has been getting a lot of interest.

-In the case of Jubilee, of course, it was named Jubilee because it was a presentation to Her Majesty the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee.

But of course, you know, he is 10 years old now because it was 10 years since we had him last time.

This is the 70th year of Her Majesty the Queen on the throne.

And so, yeah, he's had special attention.

-Chris has already had some thoughts about the name of the next raven.

-I think one should be called Chris Skaife.

-On a day like today, the visitors are even keener for their Tower fix.

An hour-long tour through a thousand years of history led by the Yeoman Warders.

-Bloody Mary.

-Queen Anne Boleyn.

-These Beefeaters are the first ever to serve during a Platinum Jubilee.

And Yeoman Warder John Donald wants to find out more about the role the Tower played in Jubilees past.

-Good morning, Charles.

-Hello, John.

How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-He's come to visit curator Charles Farris in the Tower archives.

-Well, I've been doing loads of research, getting in the archives, looking at lots of different documents.

And actually, a lot of the early Jubilees can be linked to the Tower of London.

-Oh, right.

-This is Edward III's Jubilee and his Golden Jubilee, 50 years, was celebrated in 1376.

And the celebrations began with a procession from the Tower of London, and this is actually a document which records some of the preparations, including making flags for the trumpets for playing in the procession.

So processions, music tournaments, military displays -- these are all things we associate with Jubilees.

And this is happening in the 1370s.

Then we move forward a little bit to George III's Big Jubilee in 1809.

And part of those celebrations, you'll be glad to know, was a big gun salute, including one at the Tower of London.

-The custom of gun salutes began in the 1400s, when ships sailing into foreign ports would discharge their guns to signify that they came in peace.

Gun salutes became part of the royal tradition from 1793, and are fired as a mark of respect on royal occasions, beginning with the Golden Jubilee of King George III in 1809.

And Charles has dug up something else rather special.

He's found a log in the Tower archives which documents every gun salute that has been fired at the Tower since the early 1800s.

-This amazing document here shows the date -- we've got 1804 here, 18th of January, 29th of May.

And these are all the different occasions when gun salutes were fired that year.

So we've got the Queen's birthday, the restoration of Charles II, and the 4th of June, the King's birthday, and lots of other events celebrated each year.

And there in this column, you can see the price, most importantly to make sure, yeah, make sure no one was diddling the account.

-This is absolutely amazing, Charles.

I've never seen this document before.

So to see that it's all been recorded for times gone by, it's amazing that we can actually see that there's a real link from what we're doing today right back into the past of the Tower's history.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Today's Jubilee gun salute will certainly be one for the record books.

The Tower, as usual, is leading the way with the longest salute in the country.

124 rounds are being fired.

In their homes in the Tower, senior officials and Yeomen Warders put on their ceremonial dress.

-Here at the Tower, we've witnessed some quite major state ceremony occasions, but this is probably going to be the icing on the cake, to be honest.

I mean, a Platinum Jubilee.

It's never happened before, so we're all very excited.

Me in particular, because I've never done one of these before.

There's a few of my colleagues have actually come back to do this parade on a rest day.

-As crowds cramming into the mall and along Tower Wharf wait patiently for the celebrations to begin... ...three howitzer guns are rolled into position by a regiment from the Honourable Artillery Company.

Inside the Tower, the Yeomen Warders muster in readiness.

Yeomen Gaoler Rob is leaving nothing to chance.

Even the youngest members of the Tower crew have been roped in to help.

-Thank you.

-Are you ready?

Salute the Gaoler.

-Thank you.

Carry on.

-Rob's handing out ear defenders -- Crucial for what will be a 20-minute-long gun salute.

-When the constable's guests come through, give them a pair of those each, yeah?

-And while the crowds hustle to get the best view on the causeway... -It's really quite, quite good to be in reds finally and part of the Yeoman body all stood together.

-Chief Yeoman Warder Pete McGowran is mustering the Yeoman body for one final briefing.

-Okay, close up, guys, close up, please.

Close up.

That's pretty good.

Okay, then.

Remember, when we get in there, I'll quickly come along here.

-To see as many Yeoman Warders out on parade is unheard of.

But they all want to be here to pay their respects to their boss, the Queen.

-As soon as you come out to sally port, we'll do the halt, left turn, order arms, and then I'll come along and quit the space.

We ain't got much time to do, okay?

But remember, by the way, it's 124 rounds.

-Oh.

-It's a 124-gun salute.

21 for the anniversary, 20 because we are a royal palace and fortress, and another 21 for the City of London and their loyalty to the monarch.

And we're also doubling it to 124, simply because it's the actual Platinum Jubilee.

-And after some last instructions from the Chief, they move out into position.

-Yeoman body by the front.

Quick march!

Left, right, left, right, left.

-It's a truly historic site.

The Yeoman Warders in their scarlet royal livery, marching out for their monarch on the occasion of her Jubilee.

♪♪ With revelers on both sides of the Thames looking on, the Tower's longest ever gun salute gets underway.

-Number two.

-Two.

-Fire!

-Fire!

♪♪ -The epic salute takes exactly 20 minutes.

It's a Herculean task of precision and timing... ...by the Honourable Artillery Company.

♪♪ ♪♪ And as the final guns are fired, the tower enjoys a spectacular flypast from the RAF aerobatic team, the Red Arrows.

They're on their way to Buckingham Palace, where the Queen has come out onto the balcony to greet the cheering crowds.

♪♪ Back at the Tower, royal superfan and sales adviser Alan is sharing in the celebrations.

-I'm just watching Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the nation's grandmother, come out now onto the balcony surrounded by her family.

It's extremely poignant to see this incredible lady, remarkably, has been on the throne for 70 years.

Never been done in English history before.

Probably won't see it again with a queen.

Not in my lifetime, anyway.

It's an honor and a privilege to be part of this and witness a once-in-a-lifetime thing like this.

It's very, very exciting for me.

-What a morning.

Well, what a day.

That was the most fantastic gun salute I've ever experienced in my time here.

-Deputy Governor Debbie Whittingham couldn't be happier with how the ceremony has gone.

-We're the only place in the country today to do 124 rounds for Her Majesty, and we've done it in style.

-And there's one last order of business as the Yeoman body and the Tower's Constable gather together for an official photograph.

-We're very honored to be part of the Tower's history and also our nation's history as well.

So we're capturing that as a photograph, which we hope to have unveiled and on display in our pub for our community.

♪♪ -It's been fantastic to see my son in uniform today with his granddad's medals on.

It's a special opportunity to share something that happened only once.

That's why I brought my family down to share it, and hopefully we'll be taking part in the celebrations as a family afterwards as well.

-The gun salute has been a success, but on Jubilee Day, there's no rest for the Tower staff.

Over in the Armouries Cafe, the team has been busy preparing themed treats for today's visitors.

-So this is the Jubilee Purple Cupcake, one of the cupcakes that we're using for the celebration for the Queen's Jubilee.

-These cupcakes are the latest in a long tradition of feasts for royal celebrations.

Oxen, plum puddings, and cider donated by wealthy landowners fed crowds across the country for George II's Golden Jubilee in 1809, and Queen Victoria hosted an outdoor picnic for 15,000 people to mark her coronation in 1838, beginning the very British tradition of street parties where scones, trifle, and cupcakes became firm favorites.

Sous chef Denis Idahosa has gone one step further.

He's immortalized the Queen's favorite pet in icing.

-This is the Jubilee Corgi cupcake.

As you can see, it has the face of a lovely dog and it tastes amazing as well.

I can bet that the visitors are going to love this.

I'm sure the Jubilee Cupcake is going to be one of the best seller today.

-Coming up, Yeoman Warder Chris reveals the dark twist behind a popular rhyme.

-Thousands of people know the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice, but they have no idea why they're so linked to the Tower.

-And the retiring Constable of the Tower prepares for his final ceremony.

A very special national Jubilee event.

-It's nice to be, dare I say, leaving on a high.

-The Tower of London has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most secure places in the country.

With its own living community of military troops and a daily routine of secret ceremonies which date back over 700 years, there are few places more impenetrable.

So where better to store the most priceless valuables in the country?

The Crown Jewels.

Yeoman Warder Lawrence Watts knows them well.

-Everyone's aware of the Crown Jewels behind me here.

They've been stored here right back since 1303.

They have probably the most spectacular jewelry collection seen anywhere in the world.

Over 20,000 diamonds inside, including probably three of the largest cut diamonds on the planet.

-For the past few months, the Tower has been entrusted with holding another precious ceremonial object, the Commonwealth of Nations globe.

Back in April, the Commonwealth Globe, designed by the Queen's pageant master Bruno Peake, arrived at the tower.

-It's something different.

It's something really unique.

-Made from precious metals and rich blue enamel, it represents the 56 countries of the Commonwealth and was commissioned to play an important part in the Jubilee celebrations.

The Queen will use it to trigger a beacon relay across the world.

Until now, it has been stored at the Tower for safekeeping and where the public could admire it.

Tonight the globe will take center stage in a vast international beacon-lighting event which begins at Windsor Castle.

Chief Yeoman Warder Pete MacGowran has been asked to play a special role.

-It's a pretty long day for me today.

But an exciting day because I just found out this afternoon I've got to get to Windsor Castle to take the Commonwealth globe of Nations to Her Majesty.

That will be the start, when Her Majesty actually touches that globe, the start of all the beacons being lit across the nation.

So a great responsibility, but I'm up for it.

And so are the four Yeoman Warder escorts I'm taking with me as well.

So exciting.

But it will end a fantastic day.

And I really mean a fantastic day.

-With the Jubilee celebrations, as many as 10,000 visitors are expected at the Tower, and the Yeoman Warders have to be on top of their game to keep them entertained.

-Let's be heading around the corner.

-Conducting tours are one of the first things the Beefeaters have to learn when they start, with nearly a thousand years of history distilled into a 20-page script.

-The Battle of Hastings.

-The War of the Roses.

-The Great Fire of London.

-But once memorized, they are free to add in details from their own research.

Yeoman Warder Chris Clawson has been looking into one of the bloodiest episodes of our history.

-One of the stories that we do here in Traitor's Gate is a story of three bishops who were brought into the tower during the persecutions of the Protestant priesthood by Mary Tudor, the first of which was Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer, and then two of his fellow bishops, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer.

-Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary, was the half-sister of Elizabeth I. She earned her nickname from the ruthless and widespread persecution of Protestant clergy during her short five-year reign, condemning almost 300 people to death.

Her decisions were very unpopular, but openly criticizing the Catholic queen was a dangerous gamble.

So protests went underground.

Chris thinks he might have uncovered an intriguing detail of opposition to Mary and her treatment of the three bishops in an unlikely place, a children's nursery rhyme.

-So I've been doing a little bit of extra research to try and enhance the story and embellish the story a little bit more.

And part of that story is we found that Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley could possibly be the inspiration for the child's nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice.

People think they're just children's stories, and in actual fact, most of them are based on some form of historical event.

-Three blind mice.

-First published in print in 1609, just 50 years after the bishops were burnt at the stake, the nursery rhyme's blind mice are believed to refer to the martyred Protestant bishops who stuck to their religion despite the immense risks, and Queen Mary herself is represented.

-So Three Blind Mice refers to the farmer's wife.

At that time, Mary Tudor was married to Philip of Spain, and a derogatory term for the English for the Spanish was that they were a nation of farmers.

-See how they run.

-The farmer's wife is chased after by the three blind mice, but it isn't long before she puts a stop to them.

-...cut off their tails with a carving knife.

-Cut off their tails with a carving knife.

And that refers to the fact that basically these three priests were going for the Catholic Church and going for Mary by raising propaganda.

And so by executing them, they're no longer able to tell tales.

These stories were actually subversively putting their messages across.

So spread your message all across the country.

-And amazingly, that message is still being sung nearly 500 years later.

-Thousands of people know the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice, but they have no idea when they come to the Tower of London it's so linked to the Tower, so when I stand on the block to tell my story next time, I'll have this new twist.

-Three blind mice.

-Tonight, the Tower will be hosting the final event of the day's celebrations, the lighting of the fortress's own Platinum Jubilee beacon.

It will be accompanied by a grand ceremony befitting the historic occasion.

With the Chief departing shortly for an appointment with the Queen at Windsor Castle, his second-in-command, Yeoman Gaoler Rob Fuller, is in charge of proceedings.

-So the Chief Yeoman Warder is leaving me holding the fort literally here at the Tower.

And we are going to be lighting one of those beacons that are lit all over the country, and not just the country -- all over the globe and the Commonwealth, to commemorate 70 years of the Queen being on the throne.

-Jubilee beacons all over the world will be lit up precisely at the same moment.

So the Tower's beacon-lighting ceremony has to be timed to the second.

It wouldn't do for the fortress to be out of sync.

So Rob and Deputy Governor Debbie Whittingham are walking the route of tonight's ceremony.

-So we've got all our people either side of the drawbridge with the bugler and the -- -Are the gates shut before we march out, so to make a bit of an entry?

My theory is that... -Debbie has a central role in tonight's event involving a piper, a solo bugler, and a children's choir.

-Constable will arrive at the top of the archway there where the beacon is.

-So once we're back down again, then it's over to the bugler.

-Bugler, who will then play his two bars.

-Just two bars and that's it.

-And once he finishes that, that's the signal for the Constable to light the beacon.

So that should all happen around sort of the 9:45 mark.

Oh, if it all goes to plan, it'll be a miracle.

I shouldn't say that.

It'll be brilliant.

-Right.

Enjoy.

-The beacon lighting will be broadcast live across the world.

-Timing is key, not just here, but throughout the entire Commonwealth.

So no pressure.

-Although a first for the Yeoman Gaoler, the tradition of lighting a beacon goes back hundreds of years.

As far back as the Romans, fire-lit beacons were used in Britain as a communication system to signal the approach of invaders.

They were also used to warn the British Navy the Spanish Armada were coming in 1588.

In modern times, beacons have become a symbol of national unity, a tradition of royal celebrations since Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Tonight, over 3,500 beacons will be lit in unison across the world, and it will all begin with a ceremony conducted by the Queen at Windsor Castle.

Just before he leaves for Windsor, Pete has a surprise for the unsuspecting visitors.

-I've got the RAF Scottish Pipe Band coming in.

The public don't know about it, so it's going to be a great surprise and a great treat for them.

I do love the pipe.

My father was a piper in the Irish Fusiliers in the '50s.

So when I hear the pipes, I always think of my dad.

No better way to start the celebration.

And they're absolutely marvelous.

Really, really good.

So I'm chuffed to bits.

♪♪ -In a day full of magical memories, Pete has one final role to fulfill.

It's time to head off to Windsor Castle and a rendezvous with Her Majesty.

Meanwhile, the Tower is preparing for its own beacon-lighting ceremony.

Just a few miles away in an East London primary school, last-minute rehearsals are taking place for a performance tonight.

-Here we go.

Are we ready?

-♪ In all we say and all we do, we seek for harmony ♪ -The Commonwealth Youth Choir brings together thousands of children from across London and the 56 nations of the Commonwealth.

-♪ Each voice heard equally ♪ -This choir has sung for the Queen, their patron, on numerous occasions.

They are rehearsing with Simon Hoare, commanding officer of the State Ceremonial Musicians Household Division.

-It's a real privilege and an honor to work in ceremonial music for some incredible events, like the Queen's birthday parade.

-Tonight's performance will be the first time many of the children will have been to the Tower, let alone after hours.

-I am looking forward to going to the Tower of London in a big, happy mood because I feel like that I really want to see, like, old buildings I haven't seen before.

-Who are we singing to?

-The Queen.

-The Queen.

The children have been anticipating this for many, many weeks.

I think it's going to be a great, great moment.

Good, good, good, good.

-Back at the Tower, as the final visitors are leaving, Yeoman Gaoler Rob is keeping a close eye on the team installing the beacon for tonight's ceremony.

-There's a lot more than meets the eye.

Everyone thinks that everything runs quite smoothly.

It does, but sometimes it doesn't bear any resemblance to what you actually did in practice, which is always a bit disconcerting.

The timing's got to be right, because we march out from here as a Yeoman body.

And precisely 15 minutes after start time, we are going to be lighting our beacon along with all the others around the globe.

-This Jubilee beacon is unique to the tower.

It has been specially commissioned and will be fitted atop the middle drawbridge overlooking the wharf and the River Thames.

The role of lighting the beacon falls to the most senior official in the Tower, the Constable and former Chief of Defence Staff General the Lord Nicholas Houghton.

-I would be the only constable to have served in this role at the time of a Platinum Jubilee, so this is a most significant moment for the Tower as well as for me as Constable.

-Traditionally charged with commanding the Tower and defending the city, the job of Constable was one of the most powerful and sought after in the kingdom.

Today, the position is honorary and high-ranking military officers are appointed to the role for five years.

2022 is this Constable's final year.

-It's nice to be, dare I say, leaving on a high.

This summer is full of celebratory activities, of which the Tower of London plays an important role.

-Before bowing out, this will be his last ceremonial duty.

It's an opportunity to look back.

-I will reflect on it as a great historic time.

And I think as someone who's lived intimately with the history of the Tower over the last few years, I mean, living here in Queen's House, walk through the door at the end of this corridor, you enter the place where Sir Thomas More spent his last 15 months.

The dining room in which we eat is where Guy Fawkes was interrogated.

So you feel intimately connected with history, and you have an appreciation of what a monarch who's ruled and served for 70 years means to the country.

And therefore, it gives you a feeling of enormous pride to be a part of it and intimately associated with it.

-Coming up, Pete arrives at Windsor Castle to meet the Queen.

-Your Majesty, the Commonwealth of Nations globe.

-And will Rob's beacon-lighting ceremony be a success?

-We're going to have to do a quick rehearsal before we do it again.

Yeoman body, quick march!

-It's nearing the end of Jubilee Day, and the Tower is preparing to perform its last duty.

The lighting of the Jubilee Beacon.

The beacon will be one of 3,500 lit across the world to mark the start of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Deputy Governor Debbie Whittingham is overseeing proceedings.

-This is going to be on live TV tonight.

We are part of the national celebration of beacon lighting.

So added pressure because, you know, it's a one take.

So exciting, nerve wracking but exciting.

-The beacon is scheduled to be lit at 9:45 precisely.

-It is taking place at the same time across the country.

Everybody will light their beacons at a set time.

The Tower is closed and therefore we're making it a very private event.

It's going to be very special, quite unique, because we don't often get that opportunity to do those sorts of things at the Tower.

-It's also a first for the Yeoman Gaoler, who has to organize a parade especially created for the occasion.

-Yeah, send them through.

-This is Yeoman Gaoler Rob Fuller's big night because he's in charge and making sure the parade goes to plan.

-Rob's boss, the Chief Yeoman Warder, has been summoned to attend the Queen at Windsor Castle in his role as royal bodyguard.

He's taken some of the Beefeaters with him, so Rob has to make sure his new team has a chance to practice before they perform on a world stage.

-A lot of my volunteers that I rehearsed with yesterday, three of them have gone to Windsor Castle, so we're going to have to do a quick rehearsal before we do it again.

So basically, guys, what we're going to be doing is set up left and right.

So once the choir is finished, I'll just raise the old Tudor bonnet, God preserve Queen Elizabeth, we all shout amen.

Whoever's in the front will have to wait three paces.

All right?

Until the governor and the deputy governor have gone.

And then we fall around.

That's it.

Short, short, and sweet.

-Excellent.

-It's nice that we're keeping our end up and doing a bit of beacon lighting.

Tonight is just absolutely wonderful.

-As the sun sets along the River Thames, family and friends of the choir, Tower residents, and the international press have been granted access to the closed wharf.

-The Thames is nice and calm and hopefully not too windy because we do not want that beacon blowing out or setting fire to the Constable's feathers.

We've been given strict instructions by those responsible for this event to make sure we have the pipers playing at the right time, and the fact that the beacon is lit at the same time as everybody else's beacon is lit, and the choir will sing.

So it's very precise, and we haven't had time to practice all those elements, obviously, only the parade-y bit.

So I am a little nervous.

-At just after 9:30 p.m., the unique ceremony gets underway... ...to the sound of the pipers' lament.

-Yeoman body, quick march!

-Rob leads the Yeoman Warder escort onto the drawbridge.

-Yeoman body, halt.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Everything must happen the moment the first beacon at Windsor Castle is lit by the Queen.

Until then, all the Tower can do is wait.

23 miles away at Windsor Castle, Chief Yeoman Warder Pete and his Beefeater escort stand to attention.

♪♪ Right on time, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II emerges into the quadrangle to a sovereign's fanfare.

-Your Majesty, the Commonwealth of Nations globe.

-And with the Commonwealth globe as the trigger, Her Majesty the Queen sets off a chain of beacons across the world.

♪♪ ♪♪ At exactly 9:45, the waiting Constable gets the signal on the drawbridge.

[ Cheers and applause ] -God preserve Queen Elizabeth!

-Amen!

-With the beacon lit and the choir in full song, it's time to reflect on an incredible 24 hours at the Tower.

-♪ Harmony in the heavens above ♪ ♪ When the day breaks ♪ -Now everything has gone to plan, Yeoman Gaoler Rob can finally relax.

-It's always great to celebrate anything to do with our boss, the Queen.

It's fantastic.

She lights up the nation.

And this is just a fantastic spectacle, you know.

The gun salute today.

And of course, tonight, the beacon lighting.

See you later.

That way.

Quick!

You know, the whole world is having a look at the Tower of London.

-For Deputy Governor Debbie Whittingham, it's a fitting end to an historic day.

-It really was quite a magical day for the Tower.

And to pay tribute to the most wonderful lady after 70 years on the throne is just -- It's an awesome day and one I'll never forget.

-Next time, the Tower faces its saddest day in modern history... -Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

-...an uninvited guest muscles in on the ravens' supper... -That's Bertie the seagull.

Bertie, what are you doing?

-...and the Yeomen Warders proclaim the new monarch.

-God preserve King Charles III!

-Amen!

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪