Crowds lined the banks of the Thames last weekend to watch the Queen’s Gloriana lead a fleet of boats from Hampton Court Palace.

Members of the public came out in full force to watch the annual brigade, which took place on Sunday, May 11.

The historic Tudor Pull celebrates the Thames and the role it has played in the history and development of the capital.

Crowds watched a ceremony of the passing of the water pipe, called the stela, to Her Majesty’s watermen in the shadow of Henry VIII’s Tudor palace, before the regal rowers took it on a 25-mile journey up the river to the Tower of London.

Visitors joined warders from Hampton Court Palace in giving the barge a royal send off as it began its journey at about 10.30am.

Well-wishers lined the banks as the flotilla, accompanied by a fleet of traditional Thames rowing craft, stopped off at Teddington, Richmond and Putney to warm rounds of applause.

Upon the arrival at the Tower of London the sacred water pipe was presented to the tower’s governor, who, after a short ceremony, accepted it under his protection.