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LONDON (AFP) - Royal family and friends gathered in Westminster Abbey on Monday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's diamond wedding anniversary, in the church where they wed 60 years ago.

After the thanksgiving service the couple, whose marriage is the longest in English royal history, were set to fly to Malta for the anniversary itself Tuesday, to relive their newlywed days on the Mediterranean island.

A 2,000-strong congregation including Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former premiers Margaret Thatcher and John Major were invited to the service, alongside religious and military chiefs and 30 royal family members.

"A glittering celebration for the Queen," headlined the Daily Telegraph over a front-page picture of the 81-year-old monarch. The service was to be broadcast live on television from 1130 GMT.

The queen's grandson Prince William, second in line to the throne, was to give a reading. In contrast to the anti-German sentiment of 1947, some of Prince Philip's German relations have been invited this time.

Following the ceremony, the couple were to unveil a new panoramic panel in Parliament Square over the road, showing key local landmarks.

But the most personal part of the anniversary programme will be their Malta trip -- an idea of Prince Philip's. The former queen of Malta and her husband will be guests of the republic's government.

Queen Elizabeth is known to cherish the time they spent on Malta as a young couple, out of Britain and out of the spotlight in the years before she inherited the throne aged 25 in 1952.

"Malta is a special place for the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh," a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace, the queen's official residence, told AFP.

The young princess married the Royal Navy Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, a prince of Greece and Denmark five years her senior and a distant cousin, on November 20, 1947.

The ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey dispelled some of the gloom in a post-World War II Britain where food and other items were still rationed.

They spent several periods on Malta between 1949 and 1951 when Princess Elizabeth performed her duties as a Royal Navy wife before her accession to the throne. She has spoken of her "deep affection" for the country.

Philip served on HMS Chequers with the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet. The couple lived in a house called Villa Guardamangia.

Prince Andrew, the couple's second son, said their wedding and enduring marriage was based on firm principles.

"It's through partnership, discipline, a commitment to each other," the 47-year-old told ITV television in a weekend interview. "It was something that was done with the sole intention of being together for the rest of one's life.

On Sunday evening the queen's eldest son Prince Charles hosted a family dinner for his parents to mark the anniversary.

Charles, his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and sons princes William and Harry were among 25 royals gathering at his Clarence House residence for the special occasion.