Despite some very British weather The Queen has her regatta

LONDON — Resplendent in a crystal-embroidered ivory ensemble that cut through the gloom of a relentless drizzle, Queen Elizabeth II and a nation marked her 60th year on the throne Sunday with a dazzling flotilla of 1,000 ships down the Thames in a display of pageantry the likes of which have not been seen here in about 350 years.

The flotilla — the highlight of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration commemorating a woman who has reigned longer than any British monarch save Queen Victoria — brought more than 1.2 million onlookers who jostled for position along a seven-mile stretch of the river. Standing under a gilded canopy on the top tier of a royal barge, the queen, 86, her most important family members at her side, offered her famous flutter of a wave as trumpeters, tolling bells and a floating London Philharmonic Orchestra provided a majestic soundtrack.

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