We love a good flotilla, we do. Which is why, wherever your royalty loyalties lie, we reckon you should get excited about the huge flotilla sailing down the Thames next month — marking the 90th birthday of the Queen.
More than 30 vessels, including Gloriana (the Queen's barge), Havengore (which bore the coffin of Winston Churchill at his 1965 funeral) and Dunkirk little ships will join in the watery procession on 11 June.
The pageant starts at 12.15pm, with Gloriana 'tossing oars' as the vessels salute to the Palace of Westminster. The flotilla then makes its way past County Hall and the London Eye, towards the Tower of London.
Aboard Havengore will be an orchestra of final year students from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, who'll accompany award-winning young soprano Nazan Fikret with a medley of national songs.
As the flotilla reaches the Tower of London (at around 12.55pm) there'll be a rendition of God Save the Queen, and three cheers for Liz. Tower Bridge will lift and the flotilla will pass underneath. Then everyone will go for a massive gin and tonic.
Her Maj won't be part of the flotilla, but you'll be able to get a glimpse of her as she appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at around 1pm on the same day.
