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| Above: Canaletto - The Thames River with St. Pauls on Lord Mayor's Day (ca. 1748). |
Tomorrow The Queen shall sail down the Thames in a customised barge, along with Prince Philip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Thames river pageant will be the highlight of the Jubilee celebrations and is meant to evoke the many celebrations which were held upon the river historically, such as the annual Lord Mayor's pageant, and the Aqua Triumphalis staged for Catherine de Braganza by Charles II...
The Royal Barge has been customised by donated private funds and a team of artisans working to recreate the ornate work of designers such as William Kent, whose royal barges graced these historical pageants...
Above and Below: Prince Frederich's Royal Barge
Copyright Her Majesty The Queen, The Royal Collection
The details were carved out of clay and then gilded...
Here are the artist's depiction of the finished promise. We will have to see tomorrow how glorious it really is.
To play us out let's have some of the Royal Water Music, composed by Haendel at the request of George I for a river pageant on 17 July 1717...
Above: Haendel and George I on the royal barge during the pageant
Post Scriptum
It was a splendid day, and the enthusiasm of Her Majesty's loyal subjects was not dampened by the inclement weather...
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So funny, but I've just been watching a BBC programme about the "Royal River" with Tim Marlowe and Dr David Starkey, (reviewing an exhibition at the Greenwich Museum), and all of this was featured. Just waiting for the live programme of the actual flotilla, which begins in about an hour. In the meantime supping on a delicious bottle of Veuve Clicquot, as I look out over to the "River of Kings" here in Bangkok.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the Prince's barge is housed at the Royal Maritime Museum at Greenwich. We are watching the replay of the flotilla now over breakfast. The time difference makes things a little hard to watch live. It will certainly pose a challenge when it comes to lighting beacons in unison. We will have to lead the way and hope ours stays burning for long enough. Enjoy your celebrations overlooking your own Royal River. David.
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