Thames flotilla celebrates 60 glorious years
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ON a luxury barge festooned with flowers, Queen Elizabeth II sailed down the River Thames yesterday amid a motley but majestic flotilla of 1,000 vessels, mustered to mark her 60 years on the British throne.
Hundreds of thousands of Union Flag-waving spectators formed a red, white and blue wave along London's riverbanks and bridges, cheering the 86-year-old monarch and her armada of motorboats, rowboats and sailboats of all shapes and sizes. The pageant was a nod to Britain's maritime heritage and one of the biggest events on the river for centuries.
The 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 rich 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, the Duke of Edinburgh.
After a celebratory peal of bells, the boat set off downstream accompanied by skiffs, barges, narrow boats, kayaks, gondolas, dragon boats and even a replica Viking longboat.
The flotilla sailed past some of the city's great landmarks - including the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and St Paul's Cathedral - before ending its journey near Tower Bridge.
Nation's grandmother
Large crowds turned out despite cold, drizzly weather to fete a queen who has assumed the status of nation's grandmother.
Hundreds of people ignored the persistent rain and camped out overnight to secure prime riverside spots. Crowds swelled into the thousands, with revelers in hats, flags, leggings and rain ponchos adorned with the Union Flag mixing with burger and cotton candy vendors along the 11-kilometer 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 spectacle was a tribute to Britain's past - monarchs used the river as their main highway for centuries, and naval power built the island nation's once-great empire - as well as to its abiding love of boats and the sea.
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."
Yesterday's flotilla included 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 four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations also included thousands of street parties across the country. 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. The anti-monarchist group Republic held a riverbank protest to oppose the wave of jubilee-mania.
"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 the group's chief executive, Graham Smith.
Jubilee celebrations kicked off on Saturday with a royal day at the races, as the queen watched a horse with the courtly name of Camelot win the Epsom Derby, one of the year's biggest racing meetings.
Today, the queen will attend a pop concert in front of Buckingham Palace featuring Elton John and Paul McCartney. Jubilee events end tomorrow 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.
'Devotion to her people'
The queen took the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI.
Cameron paid tribute to the monarch's "extraordinary level of physical energy, mental energy, and above all devotion to her people, to the institutions of this country, to the way our democracy works."
In a jubilee gift from Britain's politicians, members of the three main parties backed a motion calling for the tower housing Big Ben to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in the queen's honor. It's currently called the Clock Tower.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, said Britain had been lucky to have Elizabeth as monarch throughout a period of rapid change.
The government hopes the festivities will mark the start of a summer of revelry capped off by the Olympic Games in London, raising the public's spirits and their poll ratings.
"What is great is that we have the jubilee and then the Olympics. We should show how great we are in Britain," said Joanne Richmond, 61, from central England, who was in London for the queen's coronation as a two-year-old.
However, economists warned that the extra public holidays will hit Britain's already ailing economy, potentially prolonging a recession.
The celebrations come as polls show the overwhelming backing for the monarchy, which has overcome a slump in the 1990s following marital infidelities and the death of the hugely popular Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash.
Hundreds of thousands of Union Flag-waving spectators formed a red, white and blue wave along London's riverbanks and bridges, cheering the 86-year-old monarch and her armada of motorboats, rowboats and sailboats of all shapes and sizes. The pageant was a nod to Britain's maritime heritage and one of the biggest events on the river for centuries.
The 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 rich 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, the Duke of Edinburgh.
After a celebratory peal of bells, the boat set off downstream accompanied by skiffs, barges, narrow boats, kayaks, gondolas, dragon boats and even a replica Viking longboat.
The flotilla sailed past some of the city's great landmarks - including the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and St Paul's Cathedral - before ending its journey near Tower Bridge.
Nation's grandmother
Large crowds turned out despite cold, drizzly weather to fete a queen who has assumed the status of nation's grandmother.
Hundreds of people ignored the persistent rain and camped out overnight to secure prime riverside spots. Crowds swelled into the thousands, with revelers in hats, flags, leggings and rain ponchos adorned with the Union Flag mixing with burger and cotton candy vendors along the 11-kilometer 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 spectacle was a tribute to Britain's past - monarchs used the river as their main highway for centuries, and naval power built the island nation's once-great empire - as well as to its abiding love of boats and the sea.
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."
Yesterday's flotilla included 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 four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations also included thousands of street parties across the country. 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. The anti-monarchist group Republic held a riverbank protest to oppose the wave of jubilee-mania.
"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 the group's chief executive, Graham Smith.
Jubilee celebrations kicked off on Saturday with a royal day at the races, as the queen watched a horse with the courtly name of Camelot win the Epsom Derby, one of the year's biggest racing meetings.
Today, the queen will attend a pop concert in front of Buckingham Palace featuring Elton John and Paul McCartney. Jubilee events end tomorrow 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.
'Devotion to her people'
The queen took the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI.
Cameron paid tribute to the monarch's "extraordinary level of physical energy, mental energy, and above all devotion to her people, to the institutions of this country, to the way our democracy works."
In a jubilee gift from Britain's politicians, members of the three main parties backed a motion calling for the tower housing Big Ben to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in the queen's honor. It's currently called the Clock Tower.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, said Britain had been lucky to have Elizabeth as monarch throughout a period of rapid change.
The government hopes the festivities will mark the start of a summer of revelry capped off by the Olympic Games in London, raising the public's spirits and their poll ratings.
"What is great is that we have the jubilee and then the Olympics. We should show how great we are in Britain," said Joanne Richmond, 61, from central England, who was in London for the queen's coronation as a two-year-old.
However, economists warned that the extra public holidays will hit Britain's already ailing economy, potentially prolonging a recession.
The celebrations come as polls show the overwhelming backing for the monarchy, which has overcome a slump in the 1990s following marital infidelities and the death of the hugely popular Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
