It was a pleasure and a privilege to spend Sunday 3 June 2012 commentating on the Thames Jubilee River Pageant.

I spent the morning on BBC Radio 5 Live as a presenter’s friend to Jane Garvey and Sam Walker on Double Take. We were on location in Battersea Park, close to where the flotilla was gathering, to discuss what it means to be British, and how it has changed over the last 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

Then in the afternoon, I joined James Whale on LBC 97.3FM for four hours at Westminster Tower, from where we had a bird’s eye view on the unfolding river pageant.

From our perspective, the continual wall of boats, against the backdrop of the Palace of Westminster, looked like a modern-day Canaletto.

This impressive pageant seemed a fitting tribute with which to celebrate the long, glorious and historic reign of Her Majesty the Queen.