Gloriana (barge)
{{Italic title}}
{{Short description|British royal barge}}
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File:Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant - Royal Barge Gloriana.jpg
File:Gloriana_in_Reflections_flotilla_on_the_Thames_2022-09-24.webm
Gloriana is a British royal barge. She was privately commissioned as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II for her 2012 Diamond Jubilee, and was the lead vessel in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
Commissioning
The project to build Gloriana was initiated by Lord Sterling of Plaistow, who gained the idea for a waterborne tribute to the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee from her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales. Lord Sterling financed much of the estimated £1.5 million construction cost of the project, with additional financial donations from Eyal Ofer, the Gosling Foundation, The Weston Foundation, Lloyd's Register and the Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation.
Gloriana was presented to the Queen, who asked that the barge be operated on her behalf by The Gloriana Trust assisted by Thames Alive.
Design and construction
File:Gloriana Henley Royal Regatta 2012.jpg in 2012]]
Gloriana is a {{convert|90|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} rowing barge. She is powered by 18 oarsmen and two electric inboard engines, and can carry an additional 34 passengers and crew. According to Lord Sterling, the design is inspired by Canaletto's London paintings of 18th-century barges. According to The Daily Telegraph, the design resembles the boat used by the Lord Mayor of London in the 1800s.
Construction began in November 2011 at a site in Brentford. The team consisted of naval architects Stuart Roy and Ed Burnett working with project manager Damian Byrne and the build team was led by master-builder Mark Edwards. The barge is built of wood using traditional methods and includes flooring from sweet chestnut trees from Prince Charles's estate. The sculpture and ornate carvings were made by Polygon Scenery and finished in gold leaf and fine hand painting by Hare & Humphreys.
Gloriana's ornately decorated oars were made by Windsor-based firm J Sutton Blades, oar-makers since the 1970s.{{cite web|title=Oars unveiled for the Royal Barge 'Gloriana'|url=http://www.britishrowing.org/news/2012/may/14/oars-unveiled-royal-barge-%E2%80%98gloriana%E2%80%99|publisher=www.britishrowing.org|access-date=17 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518215003/http://www.britishrowing.org/news/2012/may/14/oars-unveiled-royal-barge-%E2%80%98gloriana%E2%80%99|archive-date=18 May 2012|url-status=dead}}
Naval architect Graham Westbrook designed the propulsion system.{{Cite web|url=https://www.boatingbusiness.com/news101/industry-news/chinese-junk-yacht-restoration|title=Chinese junk yacht restoration}}
Service
= Launch and naming =
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. The Queen officially named her on 25 April 2012, during a visit to re-open the restored Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
= Diamond Jubilee pageant =
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. She led members of the Royal Family other than the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who were aboard the {{convert|210|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} MV Spirit of Chartwell, a motorised barge. 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
During the pageant Gloriana carried eight flags, those of the four home nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,{{Cite web |url=http://www.flaginstitute.org/Thames_Pageant_Flag_Guide.pdf |title=A Visual Guide to the Flags Used in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant |last=Bartram |first=Graham |author-link=Graham Bartram |year=2012 |publisher=The Flag Institute |page=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307100005/http://www.flaginstitute.org/Thames_Pageant_Flag_Guide.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2014 |access-date=7 June 2012 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Mystery-Cornish-flag-jubilee-boat-solved/story-16366581-detail/story.html|title=Mystery over Cornish flag on jubilee boat is solved|date=2012-06-14|work=The West Briton|publisher=The West Briton|access-date=16 November 2014}}
=Olympic Flame=
Gloriana carried the Olympic Flame on the river Thames on 27 July 2012, leading three
flotillas of rowboats.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19000238|title=Olympic torch: Thames trip on royal barge Gloriana on relay's final morning|year=2012|work=BBC News|access-date=27 July 2012}} 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.
=Great River Race=
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.
=800th Anniversary of Magna Carta=
File:Royal Barge Gloriana approaching Bray Lock, 23rd of July.JPG, 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 Magna Carta was sealed by King John.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thamesalive.org.uk/magnacarta/|title = Magna Carta 800th the River Relay :: Thames Alive}} 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.
Outside state usage
The Gloriana has been based in St Katharine Docks, London, where she is moored and prepared for usage. During the summer, the barge can often be observed travelling between central London and Henley on Thames, powered by her inboard motors.
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
|work=The Telegraph |date=19 April 2012 |access-date=19 April 2012}}
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External links
{{commons category|Gloriana (ship, 2012)}}
- [http://www.glorianaqrb.org.uk/index.html Gloriana – The Queen's Rowbarge]
- [http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2012-04-19/inside-glorianas-workshop/ Images of Gloriana being built], ITN News
- [https://orleansgardensblog.wordpress.com// The Orleans Gardens Blog], a record of the campaign to save the Gardens
{{Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom}}
{{Elizabeth II}}
{{Jubilees of British monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}