Watching the Boats on the Queens Diamond Jubilee

London was adorned for the celebration of the Queens Diamond Jubilee yesterday. The highlight was the flotilla pageant of 1000 boats and ships sailing down the Thames with the Queen at its head. Generally the rush meant people were discouraged from trying to drive into the city or commute in as the tubes were too packed.

Waited till later in the day after the pageant had finished and the boats stopped at Tower Bridge. Without any sensible plan, we packed kids and mum-in-law into the car (she had arrived in London 1am the night before) and headed into the city centre. Hubby found somewhere near the bridge to park whilst I worried we were going to get a fine, or clamped (these things don't usually bother him).

There were still lots of people around in celebratory mood. We managed to find a good spot on the bridge and watch the boats sail back under the bridge towards the east.



The Gherkin and the wonderful Tower of London.



Tower Bridge:

The kids managed to find a spot where they could see the boats and Little Lady was dressed appropriately for the occasion in red, white and blue.

The tall ships were my favourite, but stayed where they were as they were too tall to pass under the bridge.

The red and gold boat visible in the picture below is the Queens Barge called the Spirit of Chartwell, although obviously she wasn't still on it at this point.

I noticed the party that was going on in this boat, it was fun to see all of the ladies dressed in their party dresses and hats despite the rain.