In this July 29, 1981
file photo, Prince Charles and his bride Diana, Princess of Wales, and
his parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, wave from the
balcony of Buckingham Palace in London after their marriage at St.
Paul’s Cathedral. (AP Photo, File)
Jill Lawless
London (AP) - The River Thames became a royal
highway Sunday, as Queen Elizabeth II led a motley but majestic flotilla
of more than 1,000 vessels in a waterborne pageant to mark her Diamond
Jubilee.
In a colorful salute to the island nation’s maritime
past, an armada of skiffs and sailboats, rowboats and paddle steamers
joined a flower-festooned royal barge down a 7-mile stretch of London’s
river.
In this April 21, 1947
file photo, Britain’s Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, sits
at Natal National Park in South Africa, on her 21st birthday. (AP
Photo/Eddie Worth, File)
With a crowd of rain-soaked spectators estimated by
organizers at 1.25 million cheering from the riverbanks, the pageant was
the largest public event in four days of celebrations of the monarch’s
60 years on the throne. On Monday, the queen joined thousands of
revelers at an outdoor concert beside Buckingham Palace, headlined by
pop royalty including Paul McCartney and Elton John.
Sunday was dismal and damp, with rain scuttling plans
for a ceremonial fly past, but that didn’t stop Union Jack-waving
spectators forming a red, white and blue wave along the pageant route.
“It would have been wonderful if it had been sunny
like last Sunday but we have come prepared,” said 57-year-old Christine
Steele. “We have got blankets, brollies, flags and bunting. We even got
our glittery Union Jack hats and wigs, and the Champagne is on ice.”
The 86-year-old queen wore a silver and white dress
and matching coat - embroidered with gold, silver and ivory spots and
embellished with Swarovski crystals to evoke the river - for her trip
aboard the barge Spirit of Chartwell, decorated for the occasion in
regal red, gold and purple velvet.
The queen’s grandson, Prince William, and his wife,
the Duchess of Cambridge - he in his Royal Air Force uniform, she in a
red Alexander McQueen dress - and William’s brother, Prince Harry, were
among senior royals who joined the queen and her husband, Prince Philip.
In this June 2, 1953 file
photo, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, seated on the throne, receives the
fealty of the Archbishop of Canterbury, back to camera at center, the
Bishop of Durham, left and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, during her
coronation in Westminster Abbey, London. (AP Photo, File)
After a celebratory peal of bells from a special
belfry barge, the royal boat sailed downstream at a stately 4 knots,
accompanied by tugs, pleasure craft, narrow boats, kayaks, gondolas,
dragon boats and even a replica Viking longboat.
Also in the flotilla were more than three dozen
“Dunkirk Little Ships,” private boats that rescued thousands of British
soldiers from the beaches of France after the German invasion in 1940 -
a defeat that became a major victory for wartime morale.
The vessels sailed past some of London’s great
landmarks - including the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and St.
Paul’s Cathedral - before ending their journey near Tower Bridge.
Downriver, sailing ships too tall to fit under London’s bridges were
moored along both banks of the river.
The queen traveled down a river transformed during
her reign, from the commercial and industrial heart of London to a -
much cleaner - playground for tourists and pleasure craft.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
II arrives for the Epsom Derby at Epsom race course, southern England at
the start of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th
anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne Saturday, June 2. (AP
Photo/Sang Tan)
The pageant evoked a time when it was vital to
London, and to Britain. Monarchs used the river as their main highway
for centuries, and river processions were once common in London. The
last comparable royal pageant was held for King Charles II in 1662, when
diarist Samuel Pepys recorded boats so numerous he could “see no water.”
At Tower Bridge - the final bridge before the river
reaches the sea - a fanfare rang out and the two blue arms known as
bascules were raised in salute to the royal boat.
The pageant was a visual spectacle, accompanied by a
wall of sound. The river rang with spectators’ cheers, ships’ horns,
church bells and the sound of barge-borne bands playing everything from
Handel’s “Water Music” to Bollywood anthems and - as the vessels passed
the headquarters of the MI6 spy agency - the James Bond theme.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
II, left, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, speak while on the royal
barge during the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in London,
Sunday, June 3. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
The pageant ended with a slightly soggy burst of
fireworks over Tower Bridge - and news from Guinness World Records that
it had broken the record for largest parade of boats.
The four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations also
included thousands of street parties across the country on Sunday.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, joined
hundreds of people for a damp al fresco lunch on Piccadilly, one of
London’s main shopping streets.
But a lunch organized by Prime Minister David
Cameron’s staff in Downing St. was moved indoors because of the rain.
Not everyone in Britain was celebrating. Hundreds of
anti-monarchists held a riverbank protest to oppose the wave of
jubilee-mania - though their chants were quickly countered by renditions
of “God Save the Queen” from pageant-goers.
The Royal Barge after
passing under Lambert Bridge during the Thames Diamond Jubilee River
Pageant in London, Sunday, June 3. More than 1,000 boats sailed down the
Thames on Sunday in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years
on the throne that organizers are calling the biggest gathering on the
river for 350 years. Despite cool, drizzly weather, hundreds of
thousands of people lined the riverbanks in London, feting the British
monarch whose longevity has given her the status of the nation’s
favorite grandmother. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
“People are sick and tired of being told they must
celebrate 60 years of one very privileged, very remote and very
uninspiring head of state,” said Graham Smith of the anti-monarchist
group Republic. “The hereditary system is offensive to all the
democratic values this country has fought for in the past.”
In this June 2, 2003 file
photo, three generations of the British Royal family: Queen Elizabeth
II; her eldest son, Charles the Prince of Wales, left; and his eldest
son, Prince William, pose for a photograph at Clarence House in London.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File)
Jubilee celebrations kicked off Saturday with a royal
day at the races, as the queen - a racing fan and horse breeder -
watched a horse with the courtly name of Camelot win the Epsom Derby.
The events ended Tuesday with a religious service at
St. Paul’s Cathedral, a carriage procession through the streets of
London and the queen’s appearance with her children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren on the palace balcony.
The queen took the throne in 1952 on the death of her
father, King George VI, and most Britons have known no other monarch.
Many who stood in the rain for hours along the river
Sunday for glimpse of their monarch said it had been worth it.
“It really was exciting; it’s one of those moments,
said 41-year-old Sarah O’Connor.” She’s on our stamps, our coins, our
post boxes - she is our queen. God save the queen.”
Online: http://www. thediamondjubilee.org
