LONDON — Britain’s embattled prime minister, Boris Johnson, is scheduled to give a reading from the New Testament at the service at St. Paul’s Cathedral during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations on Friday — a chance for him to step back from domestic political pressures, stride the global stage and rub shoulders with royalty.
Mr. Johnson has faced acute criticism after the publication of an top civil servant’s report that was highly critical of the culture in Downing Street, where lockdown-breaking parties were held during the pandemic. The prime minister himself was fined by the police for attending one such event, and there is growing speculation about a no-confidence vote in his leadership.
Yet this week’s jubilee events have ushered in a brief truce in the political infighting within Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party as politicians from across the political divide gather to celebrate the queen’s seven-decade reign.