Pomp and pageantry on the Thames

Without the River Thames, London would not be the city it is today. In past centuries it helped commerce and trade grow, but also was used to stage grand events and regal ceremonies.

Here - as final preparations are made for the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday 3 June - take a look at what organisers have planned, and see some of the past extravaganzas that took place on the water.

The is one of the biggest live events to ever take place in London. It has taken two years to plan and is costing £10.5m of private money. That sum does not include the cost of policing which falls to the taxpayer but Lord Salisbury, who chairs the team that organised the pageant, is promising "a hell of a show ... to thank the Queen for 60 years' hard labour".

The Queen's Jubilee procession was accompanied by a considerable display of imperial might