A tad more ornate than Queen Victoria's

"i wonder how much that is.?"

The vessel has been loaned by its owner, the flowers will come from Royal gardens, and no doubt the chairs and other furniture will come from Buckingham palace.

The balance will no doubt be paid from the public purse, but as fourm member has pointed out, the cost will be recovered hundreds of times over by the money that will be spent by the huge number of tourists who will be in the UK at the time, and by people from all over the country who will come to London. (There will be two bank holidays over the period 2,3,4,5 June).

The Queen is only the second British monarch ever to celebrate a diamond jubilee, so perhaps a degree of celebration is appropriate, even in hard times, especially as the country is likely to make a considerable profit from it.

robgf

That's an artist's impression. I think the real thing will be quite something.

The jubilant crowds, on both riverbanks will enjoy a continuous 'Royal Wave'.

Aaahhh...bridges over the Thames. Now wouldn't these be the perfect place to view this display or in the current climate are we more liable to see them all closed as a security risk as they would also make ideal platforms for an attack. Decisions decisions and I'm glad I'm not making that one.

I am no great Royalist but the Queen has been with me all my life, and more, and so if we are a Monarchic Nation then let us make sure that we celebrate this event properly.

People will know that I live most of my life in Thailand which is also a Monarchy and there the Royal Family are treated almost like gods. I'm not suggesting we have any desires to go as far as that but some respect for the person if not the institution is surely due.

Money wise, as has been said already, it will be repaid through tourist receipts and I'm sure if it falls short in any way Mr "talks sense" Cameron will ensure that the balance will come from his finance for problem families to which she is surely qualified to draw from. Now I shall return to this rather nice bottle of red wine.