THE royal jubilee barge will sail down the Thames tomorrow decked out in garlands made from 10,000 flowers from the Queen’s gardens. It has taken 20 gardeners seven months to grow the flowers and plants for the huge display designed by Rachel De Thame, the Sunday Times horticulturist.
Until a few months ago the barge was in use as the Spirit of Chartwell, a passenger boat that took tourists for lunch cruises. Now 45 florists have helped to turn it into a floating garden with 3,000 red roses, 4,000 carnations, 500 sweet peas and 1,000 red charm peonies. A giant “E” for Elizabeth has been created from 1,500 saintpaulia flowers and 400 patience roses and mature box plants.
On board will be the Queen, Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
They will be joined by Carol Ann Duffy, the poet laureate, and Sir Donald Gosling, the multi-millionaire former owner of NCP car parks who lent the Queen his yacht Leander when the royal yacht Britannia was taken out of service in 1997.
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The party will enjoy something likely to be lost on most of the crowd: the fragrance of the display. It will feature 300 bunches of lavender, 20 of rosemary, 1,000 of rhododendron and 100 of bay. Plants from across the British Isles have also been incorporated, including 20 Scottish thistles, 60 Welsh daffodils, 12 leeks and 20 varieties of Commonwealth species.
The boat’s transformation has been overseen by Joseph Bennett, the Emmy award-winning producer whose credits include the American HBO television series Rome. A two-ton gold-covered sculpture of Old Father Thames will sit at the prow and the vessel will be crewed by royal watermen.
The barge master will be working behind the glass wheel house at the front of the boat while the royal family will be on a higher level so they can be easily viewed by members of the public standing on the riverside. Special dispensation has been given to allow the royal standard to fly on the barge for the day.
The Queen and Prince Philip will be sat in full view on identical red velvet thrones decorated with gold leaf trim. There is a canopy overhead to keep off the rain. There are also 20 cabins and a piano room if they want to escape the weather altogether.
Perhaps one of the most special parts of the day for the Queen will be the way she gets to the royal barge. A decision was made to employ the tender that used to deliver her to the royal yacht Britannia, which has now been taken out of service. Lord Salisbury, chairman of the jubilee river pageant, said: “The presence of the barge from the former royal yacht Britannia has given the Queen particular pleasure.”
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A toast with English wine
In keeping with the patriotic theme of the day, VIPs on board the royal barge will be offered a selection of three English wines.
They are: a sparkling Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2007, produced from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes by the West Sussex producer; a Stopham Estate Pinot Blanc 2010, a dry wine from a 16-acre vineyard near Pulborough, also West Sussex; and the Albury Vineyard’s Silent Pool Rosé 2011, planted in 2009 by the Surrey vintner Nick Wenman — the first wine produced from one of the few organic vineyards in England. Since its maiden vintage in 1992, the award-winning Nyetimber, priced at about £28 a bottle, has beaten champagne in taste tests.
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Rupert Pritchett, owner of Taurus Wines, who made the selection, said: “These are world beaters and it couldn’t be more fitting to have some fine English wines on this very patriotic occasion.”