Jubilee Pageant Day

Sunday was the day of the long awaited river pageant, honoring Queen Elizabeth's 60th year of reign.  The pageant was planned to run along the Thames river, and thousands upon thousands of spectators were expected to cheer for the Queen.  Sue and Bryce hate crowds, but Laurel and I don't mind so much, so Laurel and I went off on our own.

The plan was to take the Tube to an area along the Thames with lots of viewing room.  Getting there wasn't so bad, and we followed the crowds until we spotted a decent viewing area.  We were an hour early, but already the crowds were 5 deep.  Laurel took advantage of her kid-ness and snuck up to the front, and I used my tallness to watch from the back.  This wound up working out OK.

Eventually, the flotilla of boats appeared.  There were a ton of rowed boats: kayaks, sculls, and more - and the oarsmen all had different outfits on.  Then some bigger boats appeared, some with bands playing inside and broadcasting the music over the loudspeaker.  Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, soon appeared in a golden gilded boat.  After a few more boats, the Queen's barge appeared, and we could see her in the distance under her royal canopy. The crowds cheered her on enthusiastically.

Sue and Bryce went to our local park, and got a better view of the boats, although the Queen was not on the route.  The Jubilee organizers has set up large TV screens in different parts of London so people could see, and our park had one of them. So they got the experience too.

 

Laurel getting into the spirit of the Jubilee.

 

The Queen's boat.

 

Part of the flotilla - 1000 strong.

Returning from the celebration gave us a glimpse of British efficiency.  In spite of the crowds and the sardine-like experience in the Tube, everything ran smoothly, and everyone was polite and well mannered.

 

One packed tube car.

It was very cool to be a part of history.