The second day of England’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations kicked off with a vast parade of colorfully turned-out boats down the River Thames, with Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal family floating along on their flower-festooned barge to the sounds of Handel’s “Water Music” and the James Bond theme song from Goldfinger. The procession was led by the recently completed $1.5 million Gloriana, the first royal barge built in 100 years, which will be presented to the Queen at the end of the pageant. Covered in gold leaf from stem to stern, the Gloriana is powered by eighteen oarsmen in scarlet tunics, according to the New York Times — makes your Hamptons yacht seem like quite the dingy, no?
