The pearl sword

[pearlescence]

Some of you may have watched the service at St Paul's cathedral to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, today. If you did and watched the procession out of the cathedral you may have noted that the man (Lord Mayor of London) preceeding Her Majesty was carrying a sword. This is the Pearl Sword -
The Pearl Sword was used according to legend, by Elizabeth I at the opening of first Royal Exchange in 1571. The scabbard contains over two thousand five hundred pearls sewn on both sides. The sword is now used when the reigning Sovereign comes in state to the City of London. The Lord Mayor offers the sword to the Sovereign who touches it. The Lord Mayor then bears the sword aloft in front of the Monarch. This ceremony used to take place at one of the City boundaries but now takes place at the location the Monarch is visiting. (pics available on google images)

[Amanda]

More about Queen Elizabeth II can be found here:

http://www.webhistoryofengland.com/?p=1230

I'm an exile - staying at my parents' house for the weekend. We can't go home until the road closures reopen!

[lisa c]

Will the whole event be rebroadcast in the States? Does anyone know? I've missed all the live events from GB due to the time difference and could just kick myself!

[pearlescence]

The country has been a-party for four days. You should be able to get at least highlights from Piers Morgan's coverage on CNN
(and yes, she wore her pearls the whole time!)

[dkan 168]

I have been away camping in the south of England and missed the broadcasts of the events. Can't watch over the internet due to slow camp site WiFi speed. Have to wait until I get back to home tomorrow to watch them online from the likes of BBC etc.

Got a ticket already to visit Buck House to see a special exhibition of some of the Queen's jewellery at the end of September, can't wait!

DK

[pearlescence]

Don't watch the BBC coverage, it was abysmal

[Caitlin]

You went camping! Yeah!!!!!

[dkan 168]

Wendy,

Thanks for the tip. I shall look at other sites instead.

Caitlin,

Got my trailer in time for the camping trip, thanks. Towing it for the first time fully loaded was nerve-racking. However, it towed like a dream, except the car does not like being driven like a granny with slow acceleration and gear change!

DK

[lisa c]

Did you know to extra inflate your tires to accommodate the tow?

[dkan 168]

No need to do that as the load was not that heavy!

DK

[lisa c]

Super! We made the mistake of not extra-inflating our car tires while towing. What an awful trip, I'm sure we took some years off our poor tires.

[Amrita]

Wendy - is there a photo of that sword somewhere online? Must be stunning with 2500 pearls in it's scabbard!

[pearlescence]

I put it on the Pearlescence facebook page, or just check google images

[Amrita]

Thanks Wendy!

[pearlescence]

I emailed the Mansion House (the headquarters of the City of London Corporation and the Lord Mayor of London and within two hours they had emailed back four all new photos for me. How brilliant is that? Thanks massively.
I could only get one pic to upload..the others are in my blog. http://www.pearlescence.co.uk/blog.php
Isn't it amazing - the pearls are clearly naturals!