Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves! .. the Jubilee pageant

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2153969/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-Three-generations-Royals-join-Queen-sets-sail-Thames-glorious-Jubilee-river-pageant.html

Ruling the waves: Three generations of Royals join the Queen as she sets sail down the Thames on glorious Jubilee river pageant

- Thousands gather along the Thames to get the best view of the Queen to mark her 60 years of reign
- Her Majesty arrives wearing a stunning silver and white dress with matching coat which was designed by Angela Kelly
- The 1,000-strong flotilla is the most spectacular nautical event in London for the past 350 years
- London Philharmonic Orchestra play 'Singing in the Rain' as they travel down the river
- Bad weather causes cancellation of flypast finale to Thames River Pageant
- Diamond Jubilee pageant sets new world record for the number of boats taking part in a parade.


The Queen's Diamond Jubilee river pageant reached its end as a world record-beating 1,000-strong flotilla passed under Tower Bridge. The belfry carrying The Royal Jubilee Bells was the first vessel through, followed by the million-pound row barge Gloriana led by Olympic gold medallists Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, rowing with 16 others. A 41-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London to celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne while thousands of people cheered on the banks of the River Thames despite the wet weather.


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The Queen, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wave from the Spirit of Chartwell during the Diamond Jubilee Thames River Pageant as thousands of well-wishers from around the world flocked to London to witness the spectacle of the weekend's celebrations

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Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the Thames shoreline to watch the Royal Jubilee Pageant. From left to right, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry watched proceedings from the Royal barge which formed part of a flotilla of 1,000 boats


The bascules of Tower Bridge opened for the arrival of the royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, as the Royal Family prepared to take their places on HMS President to watch the rest of the seven mile-long flotilla making its way down the Thames. Just after 2pm more than a thousand vessels set off in wave after wave of tugs, steamers, pleasure cruisers, dragon boats and kayaks with the Queen travelling at its heart.

The river-borne event was one of the highlights of the four-day Diamond Jubilee weekend and spectators refused to let the miserable weather dampen their spirits. But the flypast finale to the Thames River Pageant was cancelled due to the poor weather. Nine naval helicopters of the Fleet Air Arm were scheduled to form a 'Diamond Nine' in the skies above London to salute the Queen. 'Unfortunately because of the weather conditions, the proposed helicopter fly past in diamond formation will now not take place,' a spokeswoman for the Pageant organisers said. Though, this did not ruin what proved to be a stunning spectacle for those who did brave the drizzle to line the shores of the Thames.


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Tower Bridge meets the ugly Shard building, I bet Prince Charles had something to say about that!

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The view from the London Eye: Crowds pack Westminster Bridge as the royal barge and escort passes the Houses of Parliament

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God Save the Queen, pretty amazing show.

Did you hear about the Republicans? apparently some from the group Republic staged a protest and ended up being booed by the public aha! and then people started chanting the national anthem (God Save the Queen) so they left - sums the day up for me I think. Anyway, there's some stunning pictures of it all on the Mail link above, over 1,000 boats on the River Thames.

It was amazing to see the Former Empire/Commonwealth boats go past with the flags, my favourite part I think.

Thoughts?

[MissAlice]

I thought it was magnificent and very memorable; a very significant day in history although it must of been disappointing for those involved in the fly past, which didn't take place thanks to our typical great British weather. The Queen is always immaculately dressed and considering her age she did remarkably well to have stood throughout the whole event, as did Prince Philip. There were many boats that stood out, but one I particularly liked was the Gloriana and a lovely surprise was to see the War Horse.

All the planning that went into the event was very well organised. As for the Republicans, did they really think they stood a chance of protesting at such a huge and important event!

[Chippiewill]

I was just watching the recap on BBC1 and I thought how fantastic it is that it's raining and everyone carrying on regardless, that really does summarise Britishness.

[xxMATTGxx]

I watched quite a lot of it and it looked pretty amazing. Even though the weather was crap there was still so many people there to watch and cheer at the Queen. I also found it quite outstanding that the Queen did not sit down once during the whole event from what I believe.

[Mathew]

Absolutely fantastic day; one which really does make you proud to be British and I'm sure it will stick in my mind for years to come. I spent the day at a Jubilee Party with family and friends - the whole day has just been... amazing. I've just written a blog post too so I'm quite simply lost for words at the minute! :P!

[GommeInc]

It was quite amazing. My only criticism is that it would of been nicer if the different classes of boats merged together a bit more, so the first of the steam boats were mixed in with the last of the man powered boats (for example). It seemed a bit odd that there were huge gaps in between each class, when it would of been nicer if they were closer.

I felt sorry for the Queen, the weather looked like it took its toll on her - she looked freezing! The crowds were amazing too, so much passion and enjoyment.

[Firehorse]

It was quite amazing. My only criticism is that it would of been nicer if the different classes of boats merged together a bit more, so the first of the steam boats were mixed in with the last of the man powered boats (for example). It seemed a bit odd that there were huge gaps in between each class, when it would of been nicer if they were closer.


Safety issues.

[GommeInc]

Safety issues.
Indeed, that's the reason, but it makes you wonder what on earth they were expecting to need about a 100 metre (if not more) gap between each class. Then again, the bit after Tower Bridge seemed to of clogged up with boats, so they probably were focusing on that :P It was quite a spectacle though, truely memorable.