STOP PRESS: You can now download the Thames Jubilee Pageant illustrated map as a PDF
On Sunday 3rd June 2012 The Queen will travel in a flotilla of up to one thousand boats from the UK, the Commonwealth and around the World for The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, an event which promises to be one of the major focal points of the celebrations held on the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. The flotilla, expected to measure seven and a half miles from end to end, will be the largest fleet of ships to be assembled on the River Thames in 350 years, continuing a royal tradition which dates back to 1533 when Anne Boleyn travelled by boat for her coronation. Millions of people are expected to line the banks of the Thames to witness the pageant which will include a diverse mix of the historic and the modern with rowed boats, sailing ships, steamers, wooden launches, canoes and kayaks all decorated for the occasion. The Queen and senior members of the Royal Family will travel aboard the Spirit of Chartwell, accompanied by music from a floating bell tower (the first of its kind ever to be on mounted on the river) of eight bells named after the royals, with peals being answered by local churches. There will be 10 musical barges, with an orchestra playing James Bond themes as it passes the MI6 building. Thames piers, riverside roads and bridges will be closed to traffic and there will be around 40 big screens along the route - which runs from Battersea Bridge to Tower Bridge - so members of the public can enjoy the pageant from a variety of vantage points. The boating bonanza starts at 2.40pm but vessel mustering will take place from midday between Putney Bridge and Wandsworth Bridge. The Queen is scheduled to pass under Tower Bridge at 4.30pm before disembarking at Presidents Quay near to the entrance of St Katherine's Docks, from where she will review the passing pageant. The last vessel in the flotilla, Symphony (carrying the London Philharmonic Orchestra on board), will pass under Tower Bridge at around 5.30pm, where there will be an 'avenue of sail' of more that 47 tall ships too large to pass under London Bridge. Although the official route comes to an end at Tower Bridge, the majority of the boats will continue on towards Greenwich - offering the public in south-east London further chances to view the spectacle.