Gaudy grandeur on the Thames

It’s just so hard to pick out my favorite Diamond Jubilee moment--but that flotilla is certainly among them. It must have taken its gaudy, funereal inspiration from “Cleopatra” as envisioned by Cecil B. DeMille. One difference though is that while Cleo killed herself with an asp, Betty decided to marry one--the man she calls, “anus horribilis”. The boys were all decked out in military uniforms with a chest full of medals they didn’t do a damn thing to earn & the girls all wore hats renowned as architectural & aesthetic atrocities. Other than that, not much happened. The Windsors only show animation at the horse track. But please tell me, England--who the hell were those people lined up along the Thames waving the flag (which is even uglier than ours) & watching nothing happen? Wasn’t there anything on the telly better than that!? (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty)