A Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside the palace in 2012 for the Queen

The opening ceremony of London 2012 featured the Queen apparently parachuting into the Olympic Stadium accompanied by James Bond. If she wants to drop in on the start of this summer’s Cricket World Cup, she will simply have to open her balcony doors.

Organisers of cricket’s leading tournament have agreed to stage its official opening on the Mall, outside the front gates of Buckingham Palace. The one-hour ceremony in front of a ticketed audience of 4,000 will feature sporting celebrities from the ten countries taking part in the six-week competition.

The organisers wanted a venue that would be instantly recognisable to a global TV audience and have been in discussions with Royal Parks for almost a year to try to secure a stage by the