The Lord Mayor's Show

More than 6500 people will be parading through the streets of the City of London tomorrow, to take part in the three and a half mile long magnificent procession to welcome the new Lord Mayor of London.

David Wootton, Lord Mayor 2011  Photo:PA

Alderman Roger Gifford has been inaugurated  as the 685^th Lord Mayor of London in the Silent Ceremony today and tomorrow he will travel in the gold State Coach from the Mansion House in the City to the Royal Courts of Justice in the Alydwich, to swear loyalty to the Crown.

In 1215 King John gave the City a charter which stated that the new Lord Mayor must swear an oath of allegiance to the Sovereign and show himself to the people.  This began the tradition of the largest unrehearsed pageant in the world, full of our usual British pomp and pageantry.  The journey was originally made on horseback, then the parade took to barges on the river which began the term ‘floats’, which we still use today for vehicles carrying decorated platforms for celebrations.  The four ton Golden State Coach was constructed in 1753 and this now carries the new Lord Mayor through the streets.  It is the oldest carriage in regular use in the UK and can be seen on display in the Museum of London

Scenes of this splendid river pageant have been captured by many artists including Canaletto and after a trial last year,  the Lord Mayor’s flotilla is back in the water.  The beautiful Gloriana barge which was used for the Queen’s Jubilee and Olympic celebrations will take the Lord Mayor from Vauxhall at 8.30am.  The barge will lead a flotilla of 24 traditional Thames boats and will make its way downstream to HMS President, just below St. Katherine’s Dock.

The procession leaves Mansion House at 11am, after a two minute silence as a mark of request to Armistice Day on Sunday, and will be lead by Gog and Magog, traditional guardians of the City.  These are 14 foot high heavily armed carnival figures, made from wicker and pasteboard they walked ahead of the procession around five hundred years ago and the tradition was lost when they had to be replaced by wooden figures which were too heavy to carry.  However in 2006 the Company of Basketmakers recreated the mediaeval figures to connect the Show to its origins.

Photo:  PA

The Lord Mayor, wearing an ermine-trimmed robe and feathered tricorne hat will leave Mansion House in the Golden State Coach at about 11.45 and joins the procession, stopping at St. Paul’s Cathedral to receive a blessing before continuing down Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street to the Royal Courts where he gives his oath of loyalty to the Crown.  The procession then retraces its route to Mansion House.

Pearly King and Queen  Photo: PA

This family fun day of celebration with 22 marching bands, horses, vintage cars, carriages, military bands and dancing is all organised by the Pageantmaster,  who has been working on the detail for this splendid event for over nine months.  Dominic Reid will be calming standing in the back of a ceremonial Land Rover, keeping a very close eye on every aspect of a parade he has been directing for nearly twenty years.

Photo:  PA