Cannon boomed, Champagne popped as Gloriana led 50-boat tribute along Thames
IT WAS the moment when all the elements of what every truly spectacular royal event should be came together.
As a flotilla of boats led by royal barge Gloriana – its gilded prow glistening in the sun – sailed under Tower Bridge, cannon at the Tower of London boomed the traditional 62-gun salute. As the guns sounded, a hush fell over crowds lining the banks and filling boats.
Then, from the north side of the river, the Red Arrows shot across the sky in a flash of red, white and blue, en route to Buckingham Palace and beyond, in their wake a cloud of inky smoke framed perfectly by the towers. Cheers rang out from the 50 boats of the Queen’s birthday flotilla and the Thames came alive again, as bottles of Champagne popped and
played from the Havengore, the boat which took the coffin of Sir Winston Churchill along the Thames at his funeral procession in 1965.
On Gloriana, a 94ft vessel commissioned for the Diamond Jubilee, 18 rowers tipped their oars as a mark of respect to the Queen, golden sea serpents emblazoned on the paddles glistening. For at the very moment when the Queen appeared on the Palace balcony, the Thames hosted its own tribute, as 50 boats recreated the pageant held for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Gloriana was gliding along towards Westminster, onlookers on the bridges keen catch a glimpse. After a salute to sailors on HMS Belfast, it continued, the red and gold oars which at the Jubilee had been powered by Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent among others storming through the water.
Turning at the Houses of Parliament, Gloriana began the journey back, now with some 50 boats – including three of Dunkirk’s Little Ships – in its wake.
Guests on board, who included Lord Sterling – the former P&O chairman who commissioned Gloriana – and Sir Steve had the sensation of heading an armada, while they sailed under Tower Bridge as it rose to salute the Queen.
Sir Steve, 54, said: “The rowers did brilliantly. I felt a bit bad when I turned up this morning to see all these guys – many of whom are much older than me – in their kit. To be on board again, not working this time, is great.”