All eyes will focus on the magnificent 210ft Spirit of Chartwell, decorated with gilt and red velvet and boasting two tons of Grinling Gibbons-style carving of Old Father Thames and dolphins and whatnot; and I can confidently predict that when they glimpse the Queen on her canopied throne – like a howdah on the roof of the barge – the hundreds of thousands on the banks of the river will burst into roars of acclamation.
It is the least we can do. After 60 years on the throne she has proved the value of the monarchy in uniting the nation, and she has put the republicans to a spectacular rout.
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