Royals sang along with the crowd before an aerial drone light show projected images into the sky, including the monarch on a stamp and the outline of her dogs.
The pop concert opened with a recorded comic sketch of the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear and tapping out the tune to the Queen anthem “We Will Rock You” on her china teacup.
Military drummers then picked up the beat as the concert transferred to the live event outside the queen’s official residence.
Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys and Diana Ross were among those to perform in front of tens of thousands of people crammed around the palace, down the Mall grand boulevard and in a nearby park.
Prince Charles paid an emotional personal tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth, praising the monarch for uniting the nation and continuing to make history during her 70-year reign.
The heir-to-the-throne appeared towards the end of the concert at Buckingham Palace. As images of Elizabeth’s reign were displayed on the walls, Charles, 73, said the Jubilee had given the country the chance to say thank you.
“You pledged to serve your whole life – you continue to deliver. That is why we are here,” he said in a message to the queen, who was at her Windsor Castle residence outside London.
“You have met us and talked with us. You laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us, for these 70 years,” he added, referring to the queen as “mummy”.
