World boats to star at British queen’s jubilee

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (R) and Prince Philip waving farewell to Australia at Perth International Airport on October 29, 2011

Australian surf boats, American whalers and an Indian houseboat will take part in a huge flotilla of ships led by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to mark her diamond jubilee, organisers said yesterday.
More than one million people are expected to line the River Thames in London and hundreds of millions to watch on television around the world as the 1,000-boat tribute sails on June 3, they said.
Prince Charles, the queen’s eldest son and the heir to the British throne, was also revealed yesterday as the official patron of the pageant to mark his mother’s 60-year rule.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said it would be an “opportunity to show off to the world London’s pride in its heritage and traditions ahead of the Olympics”, which begin in London on July 27.
The aquatic pageant is the biggest on the Thames for 350 years, stretching seven miles (12 kilometres) down the river, and June 3 will be a special public holiday to celebrate the Queen’s 60 years on the British throne.
The flotilla will feature vessels from across the 55-nation Commonwealth, which groups mainly former British colonies, including surf boats from Australian states with participants in surfing gear.
An American whaleboat and a houseboat from southern India will also take part, along with a Bermudan ketch featured in the video to British pop group Duran Duran’s 1982 hit “Rio”.
There will be a number of vessels that took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in World War II, when thousands of Allied troops were saved by a ragtag band of boats in 1940.
“We have a wonderful collection of vessels, a wide spectrum of every type of craft from humble kayaks to magnificent tall ships, with rowed shallops, oyster smacks, steamers, cutters, cruisers and barges,” pageant master Adrian Evans said.
Music will also play a major role in the pageant, featuring classical music, Bollywood anthems, Scottish tunes, English folk songs and military marches, along with the ringing of bells.
The composer of the music for hit television series “Downton Abbey”, John Lunn, has been commissioned with nine other composers to create a new movement using the original titles of Handel’s Water Music for inspiration.
The pageant was first announced in April last year.