Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant mustering in Hammersmith

As I didn’t have a wedding to photograph today in London, I decided to head out on the short walk to Hammersmith Bridge to check out the mustering and departure of a small part of the huge flotilla for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, which in total will see around one thousand boats of all shapes and sizes making their way down the Thames.

The array of boats include a massive gondola, something like 65 feet long, from Venice and a number of boats which helped bring soldiers back from Dunkirk. There was a fantastic atmosphere all along the banks of the river, and it was even better on the bridge, especially once all the boats started making their way under it. There was plenty of fancy dress and bright colours, including a team of Robin Hood oarsmen on one of the boats and singing Maoris on another. Even though the weather isn’t great today, it is doing nothing to dampen the high spirits! Here is a selection of shots I took.