The Diamond Jubilee royal barge Gloriana went on her maiden voyage this afternoon. The 94 foot vessel looked very pretty as she took to the water in Isleworth at high-tide shortly before 3pm. For security reasons, the whole operation was shrouded in secrecy until the last possible moment. Luckily, I live just down the road, so dashed down there. Unfortunately it was wet and rather miserable but several hundred locals turned out to see her off, delivering a damp cheer and a smattering of applause from outside the historic London Apprentice. The sixteen oarsmen – tentatively to begin with – soon got the hang of it and rowed her downriver towards Brentford.
Mike Paterson
London Historians' Blog 
I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet in my life, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. She truely is a beauty and makes me proud to call myself British.
Thank you for this.
Brilliant to get such good photos in the wild weather.
Dont forget her little sister Jubilant, returnrd to the water last Saturday after a total repaint over the weekend.
Was the Gloriana built in an industrial unit north of the Great West Road… behind PC World… in Brentford?
I’m not sure if totally Made in Brentford, it’s possible, but certainly she was finished off there (as a TW8 man, I should say here!). Also, I need to look into a story on the telly the past couple of days that she is being moved from her home at St Katharine Docks, which I thought was permanent, but seemingly not.
I’m a bit late to the party but would like to thank Mike for these photo’s as I have now lost all photos I took on the day, including video of said lift. I was the crane operator, crane was 150t capacity and I can confirm that the Gloriana was indeed built locally in a warehouse just off the great west road. Prior to the lift into the Thames I was the crane supervisor controlling the tandem lift of the barge from inside the warehouse onto the low loader that delivered it to the final location.
This brief project is my proudest moment in my nearly 20 year lifting career.
Best
Simon Courtney
Thank-you, Simon. Great job! These versions are quite low resolution just for the blog. If you’d like originals, just let me know. admin@londonhistorians.org .
Hi Mike, I would love to have all the photos of the lift if possible, I will send you an email shortly.