Jubilation on the River

Before venturing down to the river house church folk are beginning to arrive for breakfast in the rain. Pancakes and Strawberries with coffee or tea. Nothing stops the British when they put their mind to it.

We concluded with a great rendition of 'God Save our Gracious Queen' on the top of our voices.

Too wet to hang about so retreated indoors to pray for our Queen and country.

Long May She Reign!

Well I did not really go down to the river

I took these photos from the TV in the comfort of my own sitting room hence the grainy effect

The last flotilla of this kind (and not on such a grand scale) took place in 1662 

Her Majesty arrives of her Jubilee barge - Spirit of Chartwell

Neither she nor her 90 year old Prince Philip sat down once during the 4 hour pageant

The gentleman on the left in grey was responsible for planning the whole event

People often think that the Queen looks glum, but she is not, she concentrates very hard as she likes to remember everything

Watching the historic Gloriana sail past

The reason I did not go down to the river (although my son did)

The crowds were estimated to be in their millions not thousands

The procession began with man powered boats of every kind

Prince Philip, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Kate the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Prince William

Mouri contingent

I would love to know her thoughts

Boris Johnson the Mayor of London on the left and the City of London Mayor on the right

Princess Ann the Princess Royal centre

The Queen chats with Camilla

Charles, William, Harry and Philip

The 12 bells cast especially for the Jubilee which will be hung in one of the churches along the river

They headed up the procession and rang out throughout with churches along the route replying with their own bells

Gardens planted on both ends of the boat

The younger generation

The London Eye was especially booked for the duration including afternoon tea on board I understand

Every possible view point was used

Prince Andrew and his daughter Princess Eugenie

The Royal Barge passing the Houses of Parliament

and the Royal Festival Hall

where we see Sea Scouts communicating with the Royal Barge in Semaphore (top)

Here the Queen is amused to see a scene from 'War Horse' enacted on the balcony of The Royal National Theatre (a favourite film of hers apparently)

said horse

Tower Bridge in sight and it is raining heavily

The bells still ringing out

a Jubilee party in the rain

abandoned as the Queen's boat gets nearer

The bottom of the new Shard building upper left which disappeared into the clouds

The bridge was opened for the Queen to pass through - not a necessity but a gesture

my camera battery had run out by the time it opened so no picture

Flags of the Commonwealth

One of the music boats

(battery has run out!)

The rain became so torrential that the Grand Finale had to be cut short and the arial fly past cancelled due to low cloud cover and poor visibility