Diamond Jubilee Boat Parade

My friend Noreen had a spare ticket for a seat aboard a tourist boat, Millennium Dawn, and offered it to me. For an undisclosed sum, we got a bagel and chips and water.  From a dock at the Tower Bridge, we cruised up the Thames to our final vantage point at the bottom of the London Eye.  Then the parade began.

In fine English tradition, these people have been queueing for 60 years.

Tall ships

Tugboat

 More tall ships

 Speaks for itself

 Well-wishers

 More well-wishers

Not sure about this one...

Crowds along the embankment

Party boats

Not a party boat

   This is our boat

Eight new bells from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry

 Each bell is named after a member of the royal family

Leading the rowboats

Long oars

Rowboats

The river is thick with rowboats

Rowboats

Traffic jam

Look close for Three Men in a Boat

Welsh flowers

Boats from around the Commonwealth

 Welsh sheep

Here come the dragon boats

 

 Dragon boats

 Natives from the Commonwealth

New Zealand represents

Viking invasion resumes

 That's style

 Orchestra

A boat from each nation in the Commonwealth

Royal trumpeters up front

The Royal Barge in your front page shot

 Kate, William, Elizabeth, Camilla, Philip

Charles joins in up front

Kate is winking at me

See ya later!

At the front are Prince Andrew and, I think, Princess Beatrice.

London leaders

Her Majesty's Brass Band

The Dunkirk Little Boats were used in the evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII.  They are all allowed to fly the cross of St George on their prow.

 Pipers

Someone needs a two

Our favorite boat

 World's largest photo of the Royal Family.

PwC office from the river

Going under an open Tower Bridge

 Sail Alley, beyond Tower Bridge

 Sail Alley

Sail Alley

All the tour boats joined the end of the parade

Amazing we avoided a (serious) collision

Fireboat

Best wishes from the Corgis.