Queen to visit British temples and mosques

Buckingham Palace has announced that the Queen is going to visit Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Jewish communities and places of worship during her Golden Jubilee tour of Britain. Other members of the Royal Family will making visits to Baha'i, Jain and Zoroastrian communities. The Duke of York will attend a Baha'i reception in central London. The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit a Jain Temple in Leicester and a Zoroastrian thanksgiving service in north London. The Palace said 'a senior Royal' will attend a Buddhist gathering later in the year. The visits are a priority for the Queen and reflect the important role played by varied religious groups in modern, multi-faith, multi-cultural Britain. The Palace said: "Among the most significant changes to Britain over the past 50 years has been the growth of religious and cultural diversity. "The Queen has reflected this in many ways over the years, including visits, her Christmas messages and the annual Commonwealth Observance. "The purpose of each of these visits is to indicate respect for the diversity of faiths, to support inter-faith dialogue and to show that non-Christian, as well as Christian, communities are central to contemporary Britain." When the Queen visits the Islamic Centre in Scunthorpe, on 31 July, it will be the first time she has set foot inside a mosque in Britain, although she has visited mosques while on official visits abroad.