AFP

LONDON PRINCE William and his wife Catherine will sail with Queen Elizabeth II on her royal barge as it leads a huge flotilla down London’s River Thames for her diamond jubilee, officials said on Thursday.

The young royals, credited with breathing new life into a monarchy previously seen as out of touch and beset by scandals, will add extra star power to one of the key events of a four-day jubilee holiday.

The royal household said the couple, officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will already be on the barge to meet the 86-yearold monarch when she boards the vessel at a pier in west London on June 2
As well as William and Kate, who wed last year in a ceremony watched by two billion television viewers, the vessel will also carry William’s brother Prince Harry, the queen’s husband Prince Philip, William’s father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla. The more than seven-mile long jubilee river procession on June 2 will be “one of the largest flotillas ever assembled on the river,” organisers said, featuring 1,000 vessels ranging from small pleasure boats to military ships.

Organisers hope that up to one million spectators will line the banks of the Thames to watch the pageant from 1430 GMT as part of four days of celebrations for the queen’s 60 years on the throne.

In new details announced on Thursday, they said a floating belfry with specially cast bells will head the procession, while a luxury cruiser called the Spirit of Chartwell is undergoing a lavish makeover to become the royal barge.

At its prow will be a gilded sculpture of the Neptune-like Old Father Thames with classical dolphins, while the royal coat of arms will be formed from more than 500,000 goldcoloured buttons on a red velvet banner.

Other ships, carrying a total of about 20,000 people, will include historic vessels, fireboats, tugs, herring drifters and eel barges, vessels that rescued British troops from Dunkirk during World War II.

There will also be 265 rowed boats, with one crewed by Olympic gold medallists.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra will play pieces relevant to the places its own barge passes, so as it approaches the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s external intelligence agency, it will strike up the James Bond theme.