Queen to attend Henley-on-Thames Jubilee river pageant

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will be joined by about 4,000 guests at a river pageant in Oxfordshire later as Diamond Jubilee celebrations continue.

The event on the Thames is organised by the Lord Lieutenants of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

It will be narrated by contributors including Geoffrey Palmer, Jeremy Irons and Sir Steve Redgrave.

The Queen and Prince Philip will arrive at Hambleden Lock and travel to Henley Business School to watch the pageant.

They will travel on a 130-year-old steam launch called Alaska, the oldest working passenger steamer on the Thames.

Its senior skipper Peter Green said: "To be acting as the royal barge at a Diamond Jubilee event is something we could never have expected and something that we are immensely proud of."

The organisers said a "significant proportion" of the guests received their tickets via a public ballot.

The Queen will meet posy givers from schools representing each of the three counties involved.

Jordon Blight, 10, from Badgemore School in Henley-on-Thames, said: "I am very excited to be meeting The Queen. I am looking forward to it but I'm very nervous too.

"When my head teacher, Mrs Crockett, announced my name in assembly I couldn't believe it."

Tim Stevenson, Lord Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, said: "It will an unforgettable experience for him [Jordon].

"I am looking forward to the event and I hope Jordon, along with all the other guests, has a great time."

Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, said the event would be "a celebration of life in the three counties and the part that The Queen has played over the last 60 years."