To mark Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, St Andrew’s Church in Lisbon is to host a special service and lunch on Sunday 10 June at 1100 The Diamond Jubilee Service will draw together excerpts from the liturgies to be offered in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II cathedrals in London, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be travelling as widely as possible across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during 2012. Other members of the Royal Family will be undertaking overseas tours of Commonwealth countries on behalf of the Queen.

Rev Graham McGeoch, minister at St Andrew’s in Lisbon welcomes the opportunity to mark the Diamond Jubilee in Portugal. “Many organisations, groups and churches will join the celebrations at different moments throughout Portugal. St Andrew’s Church is delighted to be part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in Portugal.”

The service on 10 June will include the renowned pianist Elizabeth Allen and contralto Kathrin Hildebrandt, bringing to life the celebratory liturgy. Kathrin Hildebrandt has sung in numerous concerts in her homeland and abroad. She has appeared in festivals including Bachtage, Mulhouse, Bachfest Schaffhausen, Voci d’Europe and Biennale in Venice. She sang the Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Nacional Sao Carlo in Lisbon under the direction of Zoltan Pesko.

Dean of the Chapel Royal and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Very Rev Dr John Cairns said: “The Queen is a person of great faith and appreciates all the services and celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee. For a congregation like that in Lisbon, some distance from the UK, to be marking the event is an assurance both of how much the Queen is appreciated for her unstinted service, and of the prayers that will uphold her in the years to come.”