Now that's a REAL armada, Ma'am! Craft by craft, the amazing Thames flotilla that will mark Queen's Diamond Jubilee

By SARAH OLIVER



It will be the high water mark in a reign that has witnessed the ebb and flow of the tides of 60 years: a magnificent flotilla of boats rowing, steaming and motoring down the Thames with the Queen aboard a new Royal Barge at its head.

Today, The Mail on Sunday can reveal the 'Order of Battle' for next summer's Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday, June 3, the pinnacle of four days of national celebration marking the Queen's accession.

It is to be the greatest gathering on the river since the time of Charles II three-and-a-half centuries ago, stretching seven miles and taking 90 minutes to pass a fixed point.





THE LITTLE HEROES OF DUNKIRK: No national pageant would be complete without the Dunkirk Little Ships that rescued members of the British Expeditionary Force from France in a defining moment of the Second World War. More than 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate to Dunkirk between May 26 and June 4, 1940, to rescue over 338,000 trapped Allied soldiers. So far, 42 surviving ships have volunteered to take part, including Wanda, Tom Tit and Lady Gay



The Mail on Sunday has spoken to dozens of those involved to build the clearest picture yet of its true scale in terms of the size and variety of craft – seen here on our illustration – volunteering to form an English armada behind their Monarch and sail into river history.

For this is the 'people's pageant', with almost every craft – other than the Royal Barge and security vessels – having applied to take part through a unique public ballot that closes tomorrow night. Organisers, the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, have until the end of the year to make their final selection.



A MEMORY OF CHURCHILL: Behind the Cutters, and ahead of boats representing all members of the Commonwealth, will be the Havengore. She was commissioned as a hydrographic survey vessel by the Port of London Authority and launched in 1956 but is better known for her service to the nation. She bore the coffin of Sir Winston Churchill from Tower Pier down to Festival Hall Pier for his State Funeral in 1965, and has been used on Armistice Day by the Goldfish Club, the band of RAF men plucked from the Channel after being shot down during the war.



The result will be a very non-Royal navy. It will include craft that have played a role in national life, such as Churchill's funeral boat, the Havengore, and Dunkirk Little Ships.

Plying the waters of the Thames alongside them will also be around 40 narrow boats and 20 of the Dutch barges favoured by river dwellers, more than 100 private motor boats, between 30 and 40 tugs and barges and around 250 rowing boats, including classic Thames cutters.

At the rear will be a fleet of party boats. It is thought that every Class V passenger cruiser currently licensed on the Thames will participate, playing music from the decades of the Queen's reign and carrying people dressed in fashions from the eras.



The pageant will be led by the Queen on board the Royal Barge. Britain does not have a permanent Royal Barge and no vessel has yet been selected for the starring role (above is an artist's impression of how it may look). Her Majesty and the Royal Household traditionally use the Port of London Authority's 12-seater motor launch, the Royal Nore, when they travel by river and it was she who carried the Monarch for her Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. However, the launch has been discounted as a craft is required that will ensure the vast crowds can see the Queen while preserving her safety. The Royal Barge will fly the Royal Standard and bear the Queen's Bargemaster and eight of her Royal Watermen in full ceremonial regalia.



A collection of large vessels too big to sail under the bridges – including square riggers, oyster smacks and naval vessels – will be moored on the riverbank as a spectacular Avenue Of Sail. Up to 20,000 crew and passengers will be on the water with up to a million watching from the banks and bridges.

Each family of vessels will be separated by a Herald Barge. The first will be a Belfry, built on a traditional Thames barge, but another six are likely to be converted passenger boats. Names under consideration include the Connaught, built in Oxford in 1911 and considered the finest Edwardian pleasure boat still afloat on the Thames.

She has been used by stars such as Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Seymour for private parties, and may be the Drums and Pipes Herald Barge.

Others in the running are understood to be the passenger boats Sapele and Sarpedon, and the MV Edwardian built in 1985 for Richard Branson.



They will be designated the Water and Whistles Barge (intended to look like a geyser, in honour of the old Thames fireboats); a Brass Band Herald Barge (possibly the brass section of the London Symphony Orchestra); a Bateria Herald Barge (maybe full of drummers with a South American/Samba feel); and finally a Pyrotechnics Herald Barge with a climactic fireworks display.

The flotilla, expected to close the river between 11am and 6pm, will begin at Putney with Her Majesty at its helm. The Royal Barge will be followed by VIP guests, possibly including younger members of the Royal Family. The PS Elizabethan, a replica of an 1890s Mississippi stern-wheeled paddle steamer, is being considered for the job. The Queen will sail to Tower Bridge where she will disembark to watch the pageant. It will end in Greenwich, a course of around 12 miles.



Chris Livett, one of the Queen's Watermen – a title held by just 24 people at any one time – sits on the Pageant's Executive Group.

He said: 'There are going to be a lot of boats, colour and noise, not only on the river but on its bridges and waterfront buildings. It will be the event of 2012. The whole world will be watching.'

The pageant is a recreation of one of London's most ancient traditions. The first recorded was a Lord Mayor's Show in 1453, and the last featured 140 vessels to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.



Her Diamond Jubilee pageant with its glorious vessels, sailed by the people for their Queen, will be an epic depiction of river life and will doubtless capture the same mood of pride and affection that greeted the Royal Wedding.

The Thames has been described as liquid history – and with this wondrous flotilla it is set to make a little more.



source: dailymail