Gloriana (barge)

On 19 April 2012, Gloriana was transported by road from the factory to the River Thames, being placed in the water for the first time at Isleworth.[1] The Queen officially named her on 25 April 2012, during a visit to re-open the restored Cutty Sark in Greenwich.[1]

Gloriana was the lead vessel in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, a parade of over 1,000 boats and ships down the River Thames in London, organised as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.[1] She led members of the Royal Family other than the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who were aboard the 210-foot-long (64 m) MV Spirit of Chartwell, a motorised barge.[1][5] Among the 18 rowers were Olympic gold medallists Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, also former British Olympic rowing crews including Jonny Searle, Guin Batten, Miriam Batten (Silver medalists at Sydney Olympics in 2000) and Ben Hunt-Davis and also British servicemen – Will Dixon, Rory Mackenzie and Neil Heritage – who all lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the pageant Gloriana carried eight flags, those of the four home nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,[6] as well as the flag of the City of London and the flag of Cornwall plus the flag of the royal House of Stuart and the flag of Tudor King Henry VIII.[7]

Gloriana carried the Olympic Flame on the river Thames on 27 July 2012, leading three flotillas of rowboats.[8] The rowing crew was drawn from the Olympians Rowing Association with Paul Bircher & Mike Lapage (1948 Silver Medal VIII) stroking the boat with 14 Olympians and two future hopefuls from London Youth Rowing. The barge was moored on the Lea Navigation at the Olympic Park in Stratford during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[9]

On Saturday 15 September 2012, Gloriana was the leading boat of the Great River Race on the final stretch from Richmond, London to the finishing point at Ham, London. Gold Medal rower Sophie Hosking and Silver Medallist Rob Williams were aboard Gloriana. She was also rowed by youngsters supported by The Rowing Foundation, the Race’s official charity. She passed under Richmond Bridge before mooring opposite the finish, below Ham House, in time to greet the winner of London's 25th River Marathon. [10]

Gloriana at Bray Lock, 23 July 2015. In order to travel along the non-tidal areas of the River Thames, Gloriana is fitted with inboard motors connected to the wheel and rudder. Her oars are stowed on deck when not in use.

On Saturday 13 June 2015 and Sunday 14 June 2015, the Gloriana took part in celebrations commemorating the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. Accompanied by various other royal boats, including the Royal Shallop Jubilant, she journeyed from Marlow to Runnymede, the location where the Magna Carta was sealed by King John.[11] On board the Jubilant was the Windsor Magna Carta, a facsimile of the original 1215 Magna Carta currently stored in the archives of the Windsor and Royal Borough Museum.