, because her father laid down the koo keel of britannia, and a thousand ships from all around the world around the commonwealth, it is here, this is her life. really, before or eyes on the water. >> reporter: when you talk about the future of the monarchy there is so much emphasis put on william and kate and we sort of skip over prince charles and camilla. charles, who, you know, at his age is still not king. he will very unlikely -- some wonder if he'll celebrate a silver jubilee, even. so, it is incredible to have a diamond jubilee, as we said and, only happened to queen victoria. what about the fact in our minds, we skip by the couple -- and there's camilla, standing next to the queen, a prominent spot on the barge today. >> and she's wearing a similar color, which is a little bit... and, they realize the queen will live to be a very old lady like her mother did, and, for a very long time yet, and the act of succession says charles becomes the next monarch of the country, but in reality, the queen could be 100 years old before she dies and will die queen of england and will still be

. >> reporter: the royal yacht "britannia" always a great place for a party.is relaxed, almost exuberant. but in '63, girlishly excited. who's that coming onboard now? >> of new zealand. >> the queen is inseparable from the modern -- it is because she's been her own person throughout that the integrity and authenticity in everything that she does, and which people sense, because it's not simply football keep up an act for 60 years. >> reporter: the queen has always championed the commonwealth. it's a passion. her prime ministers, and she's had 12 of them, have tended to focus more on europe and the united states. >> i have very personal reasons for feeling a special affection for africa. for it was in cape town in 1947 on my 21st fwhaernlbirthday tha committed my life to the service of the commonwealth, and it was in kenya that where it reached me the death of my father and of the responsibilities i then assumed as queen and as head of the commonwealth in 1952. >> reporter: where, if anywhere in africa, hasn't she been? with emperor in ethiopia in 1965, dancin

they are going to pass us in five or ten minutes, a selection of national favorites, royal britannia,the national anthem, enjoy those. >> the fly by would have been great but actually, ending it with the london philharmonic orchestra, this back drop, tower bridge, singing royal britannia and the national anthem would be pretty fantastic, wouldn't it? >> absolutely fan tass inc. my mind casts back to the time of the golden jubilee, had something like 1 million people stretching back from buckingham palace to trafalgar square, a big orchestra and singing land of hope and gloss rained national anthem, it was great. >> my guess is that is the london film harmonic we are now seeing the pictures of, passing the london eye, toward westminster. >> you're freezing to death here, so i will need to you talk just to keep you alive. >> what makes you think that? what makes you think it? >> hundreds of thousands of people lining these streets in these ghastly conditions. >> part of what we saw in britain, we carry on, no matter what the circumstances. i think it is also bringing together everything

she hadn't laid eyes on this boat for 15 years and when "britannia" was decommissioned she cried.here she was emergeingk< fm under batter see bridge in this tiny boat standing... the two of them, this may have been... they really expose themselves to the elements at that point. charles and camilla were in the cabin but the queen and philip were standing ram rot straight and the crowds went nuts. the roar was unbelievable. and they looked up and they smiled and they waved. then they moved down the river and they got on that very, very elaborately decorated barge. but it was that moment, that sentimental moment that may have been the most meaningful. and it was the most powerful. everybody around me had tears in their eyes and i did, too. >> the generation game. we musn't exaggerate. there have been periods where queen elizabeth ii hasn't been popular. she came to the throne, she was young, beautiful, and everybody revered her. there was a period in the '06s just as i was growing up when she seemed extremely boring and out of touch and the rejuvenation always comes with a new genera

nothing hearts back to the days of glory when britannia rule the waves like lotus and with the queen on the royal barge at the head of that. this being the 21st century the barge is a converted river cruiser made fit for a queen. the thought was how to celebrate 60 years on the throne for only the second monarch to reach that milestone and for home the opinion polls say now more popular than ever. >>> she seems like an awesome person >>> the idea derive from an old painting of our previous oil pageant three centuries ago, the weather different than today not only to the boats come rowing boats and historic boats musical boats, a crowd estimated at more than 1 million line the river banks and bridges to see a one in several lifetime of and. >>> we have coats and food, and good company >>> the question the organizers faced is what you give the richest woman in the world that is different and that she and her people will remember, the answer this pageant. they will remember for a long time even if they forget the weather. the point of these occasions not just to celebrate but to provide

nothing harks back to the days of jubilee when britannia ruled the waves like a river full of boats. with the queen on a royal barge at the head of them. this being the 21st century, the royal barge is a converted river cruiser made fit for a queen but it's the thought that counts. and the thought was how to sell now more popular than everything. >> she's such an awesome and the thought was how to celebrate 60 years on the thrown for a monarch who is only the second one to reach that milestone and who the opinion polls say is now more popular than everything. >> she's such an awesome person. so a really good experience. amazing. >> reporter: the idea derived from an old painting of a previous royalty pageant three centuries ago. the weather was different today, but not only did the boats come, rowing boats, historic boats, musical boats, a crowd estimated at more than a million lined the riverbanks and bridges to see a once in several lifetimes event. >> we don't mind. we've got capes, water-proof trousers, food. and we've got good company. >> the question the organizers face was wha

britannia wasn't able to get to the west coast.hat one where she addressed congress. they forgot to pull out the box. that was with president clinton. and as for george w. bush and his comment, a smile that only a mother can give. the obamas do seem to enjoy a great warmth with the royal family. what a lot of fuss over nothing. the queen wasn't bothered. the deal is, you are not to touch the queen. you are not to speak first to the queen. you are never put your back to the queen. >> you're not really meant to involve eye contact with the queen unless you're invited to. i think these things are becoming a little more relaxed. we've seen a very relaxed happy queen out there who seems jub lent to be with her subjects. she's smiling at all of them. she's barely sat down. >> you see her with so many world leaders. there are very few people in the world who have her experience. she can put everything into global perspective and to calm prime ministers down when they maybe get overexcited. mother theresa. nelson mandela. she's met and see

they talk about the cost of the royal family which they've pared back, and one aside would be the britannia, the royal ship decommissioned from royal family, and, started as a tourist attraction several years ago, to the dismay of queen elizabeth because she loved the ship so dearly but it works both ways, the royal family is an expense to the taxpayers of great britain but they also bring in a ton in tourist money and all of these attractiorc at aand so a lot of hotels and restaurants are quite happy it is happening. and you can hear the music and maybe we can get a quick shot. music is a huge part of the celebration as well, and you can see that this ship going guy is blaring music behind me and handel's water music will be played and there are full choirs that will be singing as the boats go by and there is a tremendous amount of music as part of this. the royal family does a fantastic job over weaving music into all of their ceremonies, if you remember the beautiful job they did of that at the wedding and i think you are seeing what is going on right now, prince william in his air force

sentimental gesture, they were ferried across the river in a tender once used to take them to the royal britannialong since demissed, and much missed by the queen. she stood all the way for some two hours, wrapping herself with a scarf to keep out a chill wind. the banks of the river were packed. she was particularly pleased to see the puppet horse from the play "war horse" joey. they're old a quanlt tanss. and so by way of salute, tar bridge opened up. and so did the heavens. rain, and more rain. they sang on undeterred. you could just about hear snatches of song "jerusalem." then "land of hope and glory." and finally, the national anthem. the queen and prince philip stood stoically and happily it seemed, through it all. >> that was nick glass reporting. so the rainy weather may not have bothered the crowds, but it did force officials to cancel a military flyover. and for all you royal watchers, the festivities last until tuesday. tomorrow's events include a garden party at buckingham palace. and a concert on the palace grounds. among the performers, sir elton john, sir paul mccartney, and stevi

. >> one of the great orchestras singing "royal britannia."'s listen to this. ♪ [ horning horns honking ] you are watching live pictures of the culmination of a remarkable 90 minutes, the queen's diamond jubilee here in london t is pouring with rain it has been horrendously cold, but nothing has dampened the spirits of the occasion. it has really been something incredibly special and you see her majesty, the queen there a fitting image with a large umbrella, leaving the royal barge, followed by her long-supportive husband, prince philip, other senior members of the royal family. they have had an incredible afternoon, pretty well incident-free and i think everyone has had a cracking time and there will be people all over the world watching this thinking you brits are completely mad. and you know what, we are. so, we are proud of it and we are particularly proud of our wonderful queen. your majesty, thank you for 60 great years, you have been a remarkable inspiration, i think to all of us and to everyone around the world, as part of your commonw

the country that shines ♪ ♪ the costers are talking of what they are hawking ♪ [band playing rule britannia, chips. what will you think of me? nothing, except that you're a terrible muddler of dates, that's all. and i've known that for ages. bill calbury you know, of course. he was suddenly in town again, and-- oh, no, no, don't apologize, darling. oh, but you came to see the show especially tonight didn't you? my fifth time. this is chips. i told you about him, remember? of course. hasn't he any other name? well, if he has, i can't remember it. then i'd best call you "mr. chips." that's rather a nice name. how d'you do, mr. chips? how do you do, miss bridges? this is bill calbury. do join us. [dance band playing] oh, chips absolutely adored the show. i'm so glad. oh, yes, i loved it. it's a great hit, isn't it? we've been running for over a year. over a year? yes. every night? well, we get sundays off. don't you get most awfully bored? i mean, isn't it an awful strain for you? all that leaping? oh, yes, i loved it. the plot i found a shade tortuous but the exposition of it remarkably adroi

nothing harkes back to the days of glory when britannia ruled the waves of a river like a thousand boatsueen on a royal barge at the head of them, this being 21st century, the royal barge was a converted river cruiser made fit for the queen, but it's the thought that counts. >> we don't mind. we have trousers, capes, food. we've got -- we have got good company. >> reporter: boy do they have company. the crowd would stretch for mile as long the river bank and across its bridges with estimated well over a million. and if the weather was cold and wet, so much the better for demonstrating the quality the brsh so admire in themselves and their queen, pluck. >> this page enwas a british event even down to the weather. there had been one like it, 50 years, and it's been at least that long until there's another. enspirration for the pageant came from an old painting of this river pageant in the 1700s. the river thames was then london's main street. and for a day, it was again. this celebration was about creating nostalgia for the future and it supplied images galore. this four-day celebration is

so this really was the center of the universe when britannia ruled the waves. >> this is the admiralty00s right through until -- i used it as first sea lord in the 2000s. >> reporter: the queen's father, prince philip, and prince charles were all naval officers. >> she loves, loves boats and the sea and feels very much the salt in her veins because of her family. for centuries the royals in particular would move from their royal palace in beautiful, gilded craft. those links i think are very important to recreate. >> reporter: well it has been recreated. the gloriana, a golden gift from the nation. it'll be up front in the flotilla on sunday. you need some strength to move this. a bit bigger than my skiff. a lot more gold as well. time to get a practice run in. i wouldn't want to let the queen down on her big day. >> you know, i was teasing you before, but this is really serious business and now that they're predicting they're forecasting bad weather possibly for sunday, that could be trouble. >> well, you know, the technicalities of a thousand boats, all shapes and sizes, lots of brid