Long to reign over us; happy – and glorious

A million people turned out in torrential rain to cheer the Queen as she marked her Diamond Jubilee with the greatest flotilla to sail the Thames in two centuries.

A thousand boats from across Britain sailed through the heart of the capital astern of the specially built Royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, as the Queen, in a silver-and-white outfit by Angela Kelly made especially for the occasion, waved and smiled.

As on the day of her Coronation, the weather was cold, gloomy and wet. Yet from early morning, crowds began building on the banks of the Thames and its bridges to get the best vantage points. Earlier upstream people had gone to great lengths to catch a glimpse of the boats, scrambling up lamp posts and step ladders to get a better view, in places seven deep as the flotilla passed. Those who had umbrellas up put them down so that people in the crowds behind them could get the best view.

Office blocks along the river were opened up so employees could come in and watch the boats head for Tower Bridge, where the Queen reviewed them.

There were little ships that had evacuated troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940, tugs, steamers, ferries, barges and canoes among them, all sounding their whistles in salute, accompanied by the peals of newly-struck Royal Jubilee bells rung from a floating platform.

The bells were followed by the £1m barge Gloriana led by Olympic gold medallists Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, rowing with 16 others.

The flotilla far surpassed the previous record for the most boats gathered in one place, Guinness World Records announced – almost three times the 327 gathered in Germany last year. There were an estimated 20,000 people aboard. The Thames Barrier had been closed to ensure that the river was as calm as possible.

Surrounded by her family, the Queen appeared to enjoy every moment of the pageant, braving the rain without an umbrella and acknowledging the cheers that swept up the river as her barge passed. The poor weather forced the cancellation of a fly-past by Fleet Air Arm helicopters.

All the senior Royals were aboard the Queen’s barge, which was decorated with 10,000 flowers from the Royal Estates.

The Duke of Edinburgh accompanied her, as did Prince Charles and Camilla.

There were especially loud cheers for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, he in RAF uniform, her in a striking red outfit with matching hat.

The pageant was begun by the ringing of the Jubilee bells at 2.40pm at Albert Bridge, the boats stretching along a seven-mile length of the Thames, as crowds broke out into spontaneous singing of the national anthem.

When the final music barge carrying members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir sailed up to the royal barge it stopped, creating It created a Last Night of the Proms-style atmosphere, playing Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia and the national anthem.

A 41-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London, and fireworks were fired from the top of Tower Bridge. Hundreds of hooters, bells and whistles were sounded by the vessels as the pageant came to an end. HMS Belfast, whose crew gave the Queen a royal salute as her barge passed earlier, fired a salvo and the royal family left the royal barge.

They boarded HMS President, a navy corvette now used for public functions, where Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha were also watching the ships pass-by.

The celebrations in London were mirrored all over the country. In Yorkshire, the wet weather played havoc with planned street parties and other outdoor events, with some cancelled and others moved indoors. Nevertheless, every part of the region saw celebrations. Elsewhere, the largest street party was in Greenwich, where 10,000 people gathered. In Downing Street, the Jubilee party had to be moved inside number 10.

All eyes, though were on the Thames, up which the Queen had sailed when she returned to Britain after ascending to the throne in 1952. Sixty years on, her Diamond Jubilee was marked with an event that had no match in living memory – and such a spectacle seems unlikely to be seen ever again.