A Right Royal Knees Up~part one

 The fabulous celebration of the Diamond Jubilee was held the first weekend in June, 2012.    If you saw any U.K. news during the first weekend in June, you will know that there was a huge four day party here.  It began on Saturday, and while the Queen was attending one of her favorite horse races, Tom and I were singing at St. Martin in the Fields Church for a "Come and Sing Jubilee Concert".  

Organ at St. Martin in the Fields Church

Come and Sing events are simply to come, rehearse for the morning and then present an informal concert.  People that participate are choral singers so everyone just shows up, gets the music and sings!  It's a wonderful way to keep sight reading skills active and to meet people from all over. I sang next to a woman who had just arrived from Australia and was on a twelve week journey of traveling and doing research.   Our music included some of the great British coronation music:  Handel's Zadok the Priest and music from his Coronation Anthem.  Other music included Vaughan Williams O taste and see (which was sung at Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation) and The Old Hundredth,  and Parry's I Was Glad ,which was sung during the processional at last year's Royal Wedding. It was thrilling to sing these pieces in such a gorgeous setting and it was a fantastic kick off to an exciting weekend.   

The highlight of the weekend was the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.  Rain was predicted and this time the prediction was right.  However, everyone was in a Jubilee mood, so spirits were not dampened and the Regatta was a success.  We joined together with a group of American friends and thanks to a friend who lives near the Thames, decided to meet at the river. If it poured rain, we could escape to her house.  We situated ourselves near Chelsea Bridge, where the Royal Family was to embark.  After four hours of waiting (without rain) the River pageant began. As I'm sure everyone has seen on the news reports, it was quite a spectacle.  The first Royal water pageant was organized in 1487 by Henry VII, for the coronation of his queen, Elizabeth of York.  In 1662 Charles II introduced his Portuguese Queen Catherine to the nation. Handel' s Water Music was first played there in 1717 as a relief to an end to the wars with Louis XIV.

I've put together a small snippet of the day through some pictures. 

This boat, the Glorianna, was at the head of the pageant.  It was rowed by 18 oars-men and -women, including Olympic and Paralympic champions and disabled British servicemen.  It was built in just 18 weeks by a team of more than 60 craftsmen.  

The Glorianna

The man powered vessels followed the Glorianna. All kinds of rowers and boats were in this group. It was no small feat that these rowers rowed up the Thames for seven miles on a rainy day.

 They started down the river and then turned their boats around  and saluted the Queen 

 who was behind them by putting their oars in the air.

a group of Maori oarsman from New Zealand

a dragon boat , perhaps?  

Is this what  George Washington looked like crossing the Delaware? 

Our first glimpse of the royal barge, Spirit of Chartwell was thrilling.  This is the front of the boat.  The boat was turned into a royal barge to look like those of the 17th and 18th centuries, painted in red, gold and purple. The bow had an ornate, gilded prow sculpture featuring Old Father Thames, a pair of scaly, sharp-toothed classical dolphins-a symbol of the Thames-and the royal cipher at the centre.

You can see the Royal Family here.  Prince Charles and Prince Phillip in front, the Queen is in white and Harry,Will and Kate behind them. 

a Royal Vessel which followed the Royal Barge

After the Royal Vessels, came the Dunkirk Little Ships.  If you know the story, you know that these boats rescued the Allied forces who were surrounded by Germans in France. About 700 small craft were taken to the beaches east of Dunkirk.  Some of the ships were sailed by their owners even though it was a naval operation.  More than 338,000 British and French troops were evacuated.  As one British news reporter said, "If it hadn't been for the Dunkirk Little Ships, we'd all be speaking German now."

As a mark of honor, Dunkirk Little Ships are allowed to fly a cross of St. George at their bows.

Queen of the Lake is a passenger boat which operated on Lake Windermere

                      I loved the daffodils on this boat and the celebratory nature of the people on the boat.

The London Fire Brigade was there to celebrate. 

 My favorite boat after the Royal Barge was the last boat of the regatta.  This boat carried members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir.  They played appropriate music all the way up the river, including the James Bond theme when they passed the MI6 building.  Nothing beat the scene, however, at the end of the pageant when the choir  soaking wet, sang Land of Hope and Glory and God Save the Queen.  Quite an ending to a spectacular day.

Here is a video of the The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal College Chamber Choir as they began their journey down the Thames.  By this time, it was raining pretty hard.   Not to be defeated, the choir and orchestra broke into a celebratory rendition of "Singin' in the Rain". I hope this video captures a little of their spirit as they sing.