The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

03 June was the day of the big Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant—a massive flotilla made up of 670 boats, travelling along the River Thames in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebration! Around one million people—including yours truly—braved the frigid rain in order to see what Guinness World Records has since proclaimed “the pageant [that] set a new world record for the largest parade of boats, surpassing the previous record of 327 in Bremerhaven, Germany, [in 2011].”

However, before the flotilla began its journey with the Queen, I took some time to wander amongst the people. I took the tube to the Victoria Station, near Buckingham Palace, and wandered slowly from there toward my ultimate viewing spot, just shy of Tower Bridge.

Along the way I got to hear Sir Tom Jones rehearsing live, and I watched as Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, departed their Clarence House residence in order to meet up with the Queen and Prince Phillip.

After waving off the Prince of Wales and Sir Lobster Tan, I continued on my walk, passing the Horse Guards Parade, 10 Downing Street, and Westminster Palace. And people. Thousands and thousands of people. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many people in one area in my entire life.

And they were all seemingly having fun, despite the rain and the cold. And what’s more, they genuinely seemed to be demonstrating feelings of affection for the (highly problematic) institution of the monarchy, as personified by the grandmotherly Queen Elizabeth II. It was an extraordinary thing to watch!

Finally, I reached my viewing area, with help from an uber-friendly female police officer who allowed me to sneak into an area that had already been cordoned off because it was at-capacity. Shortly thereafter, a long boat carrying “eight specially-cast Jubilee bells [went by], with churches along the river bank returning the peal as it passed” (ibid) and the maritime march began…

The boat with a specially-built tower to hold the Jubilee bells.

About halfway through, just as the rain was beginning to pelt significantly harder, the Spirit of Chartwell meandered by, carrying the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry.

Hard to see here, but from left to right are Prince William (blue), Kate (Red) Harry (black top and white hat), the Queen (white) and Prince Phillip standing between the poles. Prince Charles and Camilla are blocked by the lamp in the foreground.

After passing us, it stopped just short of Tower Bridge a bit farther downriver, mooring at the Tower of London itself, where the Royal Family watched as the rest of the procession happily.


As for me, I ran-sloshed to the opposite side of the Tower in order to snag some photos of Tower Bridge raised, which I was very pleased to see for the first time.

Waterlogged

The pageant over, I started making my way back to KG and MM’s but it took forever because of all the people trying to cram their way onto the trains. I distinctly recall thinking to myself in those moments: THANK GOD I WON’T BE HERE FOR THE OLYMPICS!!!

And so, another day in London was done—after being out in the cold and rain for so long, I didn’t do much that night other than starting to pack for the return journey home.

Significantly Late Update

Okay, so it’s 26 May 2013 and I’m back home in the States. In fact, I’ve been back in the U.S. for almost a full year, much to my sorrow.

A lot has happened since my last post, which has contributed to my lack of updates on this blog: I ran a marathon; I started my final year of school, and I finished my final year of school; I started working in a new department at Columbia, I finished working in that same department; I was named valedictorian of my class and graduated with a B.A. in Cultural Studies (minor in Women’s and Gender Studies), and earlier this week I presented my thesis project at my very first conference.

So, today is actually the first day in almost a year where I’ve got nothing on the horizon to distract me. With that in mind, I glanced at the desktop of my laptop in order to clear out year-end debris, and noticed a tiny folder marked “To Be Posted.” What could this possibly be, I wondered.

Well, it was three days’ worth of photos from my semester in London. In fact, it was my final three days’ worth of photos. So, not being someone who’s able to leave things like this undone, I am going to do my best now to pick up where I left off, and get these photos up. I’ll also be doing my best to recount what was going through my mind in these moments, but I can’t make any promises.

So, without further ado, let’s go…

Sadly, I don’t remember much about 02 June 2012, and the photos don’t offer too many clues about what else may have been going on. However, from what’s left one thing is clear: it was the day that my dear friend EN returned to the U.S. We met up at the Hammersmith stop on the District (green) / Hammersmith & City lines (pink) before making our way to Heathrow on the Piccadilly (dark blue) line.

Along the way, I snagged photos of EN’s last moments in London, both on the tube and at breakfast. An all-too-brief time later, we said our goodbyes, she boarded her flight, and I boarded the tube…

Until we see each other again in Chicago...in about three days.

[NB: In the busy year since, we’ve only managed to see each other twice, but that’s because she’s been equally busy going through her final year, graduating, being awesome and whatnot. In fact, as I type this she’s back in London visiting, as her post-graduation trip. I wish Nic and I were there…]

One other thing I have photographic evidence of from that day is that on my way back to KG & MM’s house, I stopped along the Hammersmith Bridge and watched as boats started queuing up for the gigantic flotilla in honor Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee…

Boats lining up for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

But more on that in the next entry.