Post date: Jun 03, 2012 5:26:3 PM
Hundreds of thousands of people armed with "Union Jack" flags and wearing red, white and blue clothes and hats, poured into the capital from early morning, braving wind and rain to line the 7-mile (11 km) route of one of the largest flotillas ever seen on the river.
The queen is on "The Spirit of Chartwell" barge with her 90-year-old husband Prince Philip and other members of the royal family including heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, his eldest son Prince William and new wife Kate.
The Thames Pageant reaches London's iconic Tower Bridge where Queen Elizabeth takes salutes to mark her Diamond Jubilee.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 3, 2012) (BBC) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth led an armada of 1,000 boats in a gilded royal barge down London's River Thames on Sunday (June 3) in a spectacular highlight of four days of nationwide celebrations to mark her 60th year on the throne.
The Spirit of Chartwell reached the iconic Tower Bridge which opened up as a sign of respect to the monarch before the royal barge docked and the Queen received salutes from boats which were following down the route.
Organisers say the pageant is the largest of its kind in 350 years since a similar spectacle was held for King Charles II and his consort Catherine of Braganza in 1662.
Typically inclement British weather failed to dampen enthusiasm, with hundreds of thousands of onlookers.
Up and down the country, organisers said millions of people attended diamond jubilee street parties in honour of the 86-year-old sovereign, the only British monarch after Queen Victoria to have sat on the throne for 60 years.