LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II's busy summer calendar just got a bit more crowded.

Buckingham Palace said the monarch will open both the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics this summer, signaling that both events will be celebrated as great state occasions - something the British are famous for.

It is the first time the queen has opened the Paralympic Games, though she has often honored Paralympians for their achievements in the past.

Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, will perform the ceremonial role at the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium when the Olympic games begin on July 27, and for the Paralympic Games on Aug. 29.

"I think that this is great news for the games," said Tanni Grey Thompson, one of Britain's most successful Paralympic athletes, in an email. "I'm sure that it will make it very special for the athletes. It really raises it to another level."

The queen follows in the footsteps of her father, the late King George VI, who opened the 1948 London Olympics, and her great grandfather, King Edward VII, who opened the 1908 London Olympics. Elizabeth also opened the 1976 Games in Canada, where she is the head of state, while Philip did so on her behalf at Melbourne, Australia, in 1956.

The decision to open both ceremonies caps a very busy year for the queen, whose Diamond Jubilee this year marks her 60 years on the throne.

The monarch, 85, and Philip, 90, are planning an extensive tour of the United Kingdom during the celebrations, including visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Philip is planning to stick to the schedule despite his December heart scare, which required the insertion of a stent to keep his coronary arteries open.

At home, the celebrations will include a flotilla on the River Thames, a gala concert in front of Buckingham Palace (with headliners including Paul McCartney and Elton John) and a carriage procession through the streets of London following a service of thanksgiving.

Unlike earlier jubilee celebrations, the queen will send her children and grandchildren on official visits to many Commonwealth countries rather than undertake the strenuous voyages herself.

She will be busy at the palace, though. Elizabeth will open Buckingham Palace to visitors from June 30-July 8 to accommodate Olympic activities. The palace then will close for a few weeks - until July 31 - before opening to the public as is the monarch's usual summer practice.

Though it was long assumed that the queen, as head of state, would open the Olympics, her involvement in opening the Paralympics was not widely anticipated, as she normally takes her holiday at this time of year. Historian Hugo Vickers said that the decision reflects her interest in honoring the accomplishments of the athletes.

"They are going to be taken very seriously," he said of the games. "I think it's going to be great."

Some 4,200 athletes will take part in the Paralympics Games from Aug. 29 to Sept 9. The event marks the return of the games to their roots.

The Paralympics started in London in 1948 when injured veterans held the first disabled sport competition in archery.

Britain criticizes Olympic strike threat

LONDON (AP) - A threat by Britain's largest labor union to disrupt the London Olympics with strikes is "unacceptable and unpatriotic," Prime Minister David Cameron's office said Wednesday.

Len McCluskey, the head of the Unite union, suggested its members could stage walkouts during the 2012 Summer Games to oppose the Conservative-led government's sharp austerity cuts. The union says it represents 200,000 public sector workers.

He was quoted as telling The Guardian newspaper that the July 27-Aug. 12 London Olympics are a justified target for those opposing spending cuts and job losses.

"It is completely unacceptable and unpatriotic what he is proposing," Cameron's spokesman Steve Field told reporters. "Most people in this country, including members of that union, think the Olympics is a great occasion for the country and wouldn't want to see anything happen that would disrupt it in any way."

Both Cameron and Ed Miliband, head of Britain's main opposition Labour Party - which receives significant financial backing from Unite - condemned the threat of industrial action.

"Any threat to the Olympics is totally unacceptable and wrong," said Miliband. "This is a celebration for the whole country and must not be disrupted."

Cameron urged Labour to turn down money from the union in response to its Olympic threat.

McCluskey said that no plans had yet been drawn up for specific action during the Olympics but that any activity could "absolutely" include strikes.

"I believe the unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting," he was quoted as telling the newspaper. "If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that's exactly one that we should be looking at."

He said that the "idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable."

John Armitt, the chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, urged Unite not to take action. "Len and his colleagues have a right to make their point, but I hope they don't feel the need to disrupt other people's pleasure during the summer," he said.

In November, George Osborne, Britain's Treasury chief, announced 23 billion pounds ($37 billion) of additional spending cuts through 2017, extending a planned four-year program of 81 billion pounds ($129 billion) of budget trimming. He also capped public-sector pay rises at 1 percent for two years.

Britain's independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates job losses in the public sector will reach 710,000 by early 2017, a rise from a previous forecast of 400,000 by the first quarter of 2016.

An estimated 2 million public workers - including paramedics, teachers and even some employees from Cameron's office - joined the country's largest strike in decades last November to draw attention to government cuts.