Monday 4 June 2012

The Diamond Jubilee...

When one has chosen to live somewhere other than the country of their birth, there is often an ongoing tension between allegiances...not so yesterday however...

My friend K and I, and her parents who are visiting from Australia, went to watch the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant. One thousand boats, sailing down the Thames from Chelsea to Tower Bridge, in celebration of the diamond jubilee of the reign of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.


Along with many other intrepid souls, we stood by the side of the Thames in what can only be described as miserable weather. It was the first time that I can remember standing in a large group watching such a spectacle since I similarly watched the re-enactment of the arrival of the tall ships into Sydney Harbour to celebrate Australia's bicentenary in 1988. Then, I was proud of my Australian heritage. Yesterday, I was equally as proud of my British heritage... 

It was cold, it was wet (and one was fervently hoping that summer has not been and gone already...), it was often hard to get a glimpse of the action with people standing 8-10 rows deep on the embankment, but it was an amazing spectacle nevertheless...

We were standing upriver on Chelsea Embankment. By standing on tip-toe and holding the camera above my head, I was able to get a few photos of my favourites...
 The Gloriana - commissioned especially for the event. Powered entirely by oars, and manned by some of the UK's most esteemed oarsmen (e.g. Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent).

 The Havengore - which served as Sir Winston Churchill's funeral barge in 1965
The Dunkirk little ships - to which the British Expeditionary Forces owed such a debt in 1940

It was, despite the weather, a fabulous day - and so wonderful to be able to participate in the celebration of the reign of this remarkable woman...

Next up, the Diamond Jubilee Concert...still in two minds about braving the elements for a big screen view in Hyde Park, or the cosy comfort of my sofa and the BBC!

2 comments:

  1. I watched the concert from the comfort of my lounge and I thought it was great.

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  2. You are a brave soul...I always tell our British friends that I admire them for being such a hardy race....they have to be, living in this climate..which constantly lets them down! I'm afraid I chickened out and stayed home where it was warm and dry. I think the atmosphere would have been terrific. Also the concert would have been well worth seeing in person..I watched it on telly and thought it was a fantastic event...(boy can Tom and Shirley still belt it out for their ages)...Robx

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