Royal River Exhibition at National Maritime Museum

This is the National Maritime Museum's contribution to the celebrations of her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The guest curator was David Starkey who has shown the enduring relationship between Britain's Royal families and the world's most famous river.

This basement exhibition is in a large dark space with lighting only used to focus on the exhibits which include the oldest known copy of Handel's Water Music, Bazelgette's original contract drawings for the construction of the Thames embankment, Anne Boleyn's personal music book, stern carvings from the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert III, paintings by Canaletto and a stuffed swan representing Swan Upping. You can find out about Lord Nelson's funeral procession which left Greenwich on 8 January 1806 to go to Whitehall, and the annual Doggett's Coat & Badge Race which still goes on today.

Along one wall there is a large video projection which actually made me feel a bit 'seasick' but the well-chosen exhibits meant there was plenty to distract me including George III's egg boiler (pictured) which truly is a gift for the man who had everything. His five youngest daughters presented him with this gift for his 66th birthday in 1804 which certainly shows "the King's fascination with quirky devices that had a practical purpose."

Royal River: Power, Pageantry & The Thames is on at the National Maritime Museum until 9 September 2012. While a visit to the rest of the museum is free, Royal River has an admission charge.

Image: © Laura Porter | London Travel Blog