PalenQ

Just caught a bit about QE II's coming up in June official celebrations in London - it mentioned a long parade of vessels coming up the Thames into London with fireworks or some such stuff and folks all over Britain building fires on hills, etc.

anyone know exactly what all will be offered in London and if huge crowds are expected as I would think - folks planning a trip to London may want to book hotels now?

http://www.2012queensdiamondjubilee.com/ - seems to have good info.

Nonconformist

Well, afaik this boat thing is the only major event, and I wouldn't expect too many people would make a special overnight trip to London for it unless they were obsessed with royalty/boats. So I wouldn't think hotels would be too over-booked that weekend.

janisj

"<i>anyone know exactly what all will be offered in London</i>"

If we told you we'd have to kill you . . .

flagmom

We will actually be in London during the Diamond Jubilee extended weekend, and I'm wondering about the best place to go to see the flotilla pageant. We'll be staying at the Millenium Bailey's. Here in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras and other big festivities, it is quite common for restaurants and bars to offer a fixed price ticket package for the day. That would include food and beverage, cash bar and (important!) restroom facilities. Might something like this be done in London? Where would the best source of information be found? I've been searching online but the only venues I've found so far are the (very expensive) tickets on one of the boats.

PatrickLondon

Who knows this far out? I'd have a temperamental aversion to tying myself down in that sort of way, so it's not something I've noticed in London. There are plenty of places that overlook the river, but I don't think I've ever seen them do something like this (after all, it closes them off to passing trade). In general, I would have thought a good place would be somewhere along the South Bank near Tate Modern/Coin St. Plenty of pubs, restaurants, cafés and so on.

This is the official websites:
http://www.thediamondjubilee.org
http://www.thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org

PatrickLondon

I spoke too soon:
http://www.sterlingtravel.co.uk/iqs/..._calendar.html

(I still think it would be a waste of money, but that's me).

flanneruk

"afaik this boat thing is the only major event, and I wouldn't expect too many people would make a special overnight trip to London for it "

Wrong, wrong and wrong again.

The 1,000 boat flotilla is on Sunday June 3. Its route's been designed to allow several hundred thousand to watch comfortably. The following day's free concert (currently headlines McCartney, Tom Jones and Elton John, plus dozens more aged from 20 to 77, and I'm putting money on Jagger being the secret National Anthem singer. It will have a ticketed audience of 15,000 scientifically selected to match the UK's geography (so 80% will need to stay overnight) plus up to half a million able to listen along the Mall and in Green Park and St James's Park.

Both these events are likely to have significantly larger live audiences than the processions for the William & Kate wedding (which came close to filling up London's hotel capacity).

Obviously unclear how many will be Londoners and how many from the rest of Britain. But with both June 4& 5 public holidays, and only 110,000 hotel rooms in London, it's not at all impossible they'll all be filled with Britons coming to join what may well be the greatest free public party anywhere, ever.

Kate

flagmom, you could try booking a window table at one of the restaurants that overlook the river. How about Skylon at the Royal Festival Hall? http://www.skylon-restaurant.co.uk/

If it isn't already booked of course!

Nonconformist

"the William & Kate wedding (which came close to filling up London's hotel capacity)."



Did it really? I had no idea there were so many royalists around still

PalenQ

Paul McCartney playing for the Queen... how ironic and how times change from the 1960s when I think Her Majesty would not be caught dead anywhere with the Beatles or Elton John to boot. Tom Jones probably has always been a royal fav?

How about Ozzie Osbourne?

PatrickLondon

I seem to remember her wearing earplugs at the Golden Jubilee concert, but you forget that every year they troop off to the Royal Variety Performance where a gallimaufry of the current West End musicals, comics and pop stars perform for charity, and royalty does a meet and greet with the performers afterwards. There's often some (very gentle) ribbing of the royals from the comics; and at the 1963 one (or thereabouts) John Lennon invited the audience in the cheap seats to clap along - "The rest of you, just rattle your jewellery". So she has done some hobnobbing with them all.

Though I suspect her personal taste probably stops at Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals and military bands.

PalenQ

Though I suspect her personal taste probably stops at Pomp and Circumstance too no doubt! Maybe some Greek bouzooki music for old Prince Phil?

PatrickLondon

>>Maybe some Greek bouzooki music for old Prince Phil?<<

Bearing in mind he hasn't lived there since he was a baby and his father had to leave under a cloud, I rather think not.

flanneruk

"Paul McCartney playing for the Queen... how ironic and how times change from the 1960s when I think Her Majesty would not be caught dead anywhere with the Beatles "

The Beatles played for the Queen at the Royal Variety performance in November 1963, and received MBE medals from her at the Palace in 1965. The Queen knighted Mc Cartney in 1996.

She's never displayed any sign of concern about them. Why would you expect her to: the whole point of Epstein's remodelling in 1962 was to make them utterly acceptable to everyone. Mc Cartney still recounts his astonishment at their demonisation by the more easily shocked Americans during their 1964 tour when they were members of the Establishment in Britain. Though Lennon subsequently went into one of his adolescent moans about royalty, Mc Cartney has never shown a hint of Lennon's self-indulgent petulance.

I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he got a peerage for his 70th birthday (more or less simultaneous with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations): as overwhelmingly the most distinguished popular music composer in the world, he's at least as qualified for one as Lord Lloyd-Webber.

PalenQ

Lord McCartney? Labour or Liberal but please not Tory

flanneruk

Life peers don't need to have party affiliations, and people like entertainers actively avoid alienating people they don't need to. Macca's almost even kept his football loyalties secret: he sat behind me at a Liverpool-Everton Cup Final, completely devoid of rosettes for either team, and not once showing any preference for either.

He'd attend the House rarely, probably voting mildly progressively on social issues and the odd do-goodery like overseas aid or funding for the arts. May be a bit iffy about landmine clearance these days.

PatrickLondon

>>May be a bit iffy about landmine clearance these days.<<

Careful. That's the sort of remark that gets some people hopping mad.