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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...
