In Pictures
Home
World
UK
England
N. Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Business
Politics
Health
Education
Sci/Environment
Technology
Entertainment & Arts
Video & Audio
Magazine
In Pictures
Also in the News
Have Your Say
Special Reports
3 June 2012
Last updated at
15:44
In pictures: River Thames flotilla
Diamond Jubilee picture galleries
More galleries
St Paul's service and carriage procession
Jubilee beacons are lit
Diamond Jubilee concert
Pageant artists
Thames river celebrations
1,000-boat pageant
The Royals around London
England braves the weather
Celebrations in Wales
Your Jubilee snaps: Beacons
Royal salute in Scotland
Your Jubilee snaps: Global
Your Jubilee snaps: UK
Thousands of people are lining the Thames in London for the Jubilee river pageant despite wet weather.
Among the 1,000 boats in the flotilla, 265 are man-powered, 48 working vessels, such as fishing boats, and 60 are recreational vessels.
The nautical parade, marking 60 years of her reign, promises to be the most spectacular in London for 350 years.
A collection of small ships used to rescue stranded troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 are taking part, led by the Motor Torpedo boat 102, the flagship of the officer who co-ordinated the evacuation.
Vessels have to stick to a pre-arranged formation, keeping a boat's length apart from those in front of and behind them, because "if one boat starts to veer, they all will", said pageant co-ordinator Ian Welsh.
Rowing boats are leading the way and saluted the Queen by raising their oars in the air as they passed.
More than 188 rowing boats have populated the River Thames in Her Majesty's honour.
Cutters, Cornish pilot and racing gigs, skiffs, longboats, gondolas, lifeboats, kayaks, dragon boats and shallops - elegant pleasure barges used for transporting dignitaries in the 17th and 18th centuries - form the flotilla.
The Spirit of Chartwell with the royal family aboard passed through a raised Tower Bridge before turning to watch the rest of the flotilla.
Share this page
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
reddit
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Email
Print
Services
Mobile
Connected TV
News feeds
Alerts
E-mail news
About BBC News
Editors' blog
BBC College of Journalism
News sources
Editorial Guidelines