It was, perhaps fittingly, a typical British summer's day.

As I rode my bike toward Tower Bridge, the rain came tipping down from heavy gray skies and poured over me and the million other people who had crowded through London's streets to line the banks of the River Thames.

But this was no ordinary summer's day. It's been more than 300 years since a huge pageant of ships sailed down the river — 60 years since Elizabeth became our queen.

Queen leads giant Diamond Jubilee flotilla on London's rainy Thames

A thousand ships, stretching seven miles long, led by dozens of rowing boats pushing their way through the choppy waters. A floating bell tower carrying the royal jubilee bells, their peals answered by church belfries all along the route. Little ships that had courageously evacuated Allied forces from under Nazi bombs at Dunkirk more than 70 years ago. History sailing in front of your eyes.

Boats with orchestras, trumpeters, bagpipes, choirs and drums. Steamships sounding their horns. Artillery firing a royal salute from the Tower of London. And a bedraggled throng of spectators all along both river banks, cheering and singing — Union flags in one hand; umbrellas in the other.

Then the royal barge, fittingly majestic, sailing by under the raised wings of Tower Bridge. I could barely make out the queen on board. But she was there, waving that stiff little royal wave of hers and doing what she always does so well: getting on with it.

I confess I'm not much of a monarchist — the monarchy has always seemed to me to reinforce the sense of privilege and class that still divides this country. But as we both get older (she's 86; I'm not) my views get softer. And I have to hand it to the old lady: After 60 years doing the job, seven days a week, she's surely not a quitter.

In pictures: Britain honors Queen Elizabeth II with Diamond Jubilee

As I squeezed my way past the crowds and the renovated warehouses that once crammed the streets by the river, I passed thousands of families making their way to the water's edge. Kids in buggies who had no idea what was going on but who will no doubt gaze at the photos in years to come and be glad they were there. Grandparents who remember the queen's coronation in 1953, and have grown old with her.

And thousands of visitors who saw the worst of the weather and the best of British history and tradition on the same day.

Secret donors, foreign firms bankroll UK’s Diamond Jubilee celebration

As I got close to the site of our broadcast, I came to a bottleneck of spectators. In the road, and slowing them down, a group of anti-royal protesters carrying placards and making speeches. Police were standing quietly by.

"It's a good day for the queen," shouted one demonstrator, "and a bad day for democracy."

Not quite, I thought. It's been a good day for both. Good that the queen should celebrate 60 years of service to her country. And good for democracy that we live in a country where people are free to disagree.

My favorite moment? Our correspondent who — after outlining the amazing pageant of a thousand ships that sailed down the river with the queen in the pouring rain — was asked what else Her Majesty was going to do today. As if that wasn't enough.

No, it was most surely not an ordinary summer's day.

And you have to hope, don't you, that after 60 years on the throne, the queen is taking the rest of the day off?

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Updated at 3:52 p.m. ET: It was Queen Elizabeth I who launched 1,000 ships down the River Thames in the 16^th century. The same number of boats made their way through London on Sunday — not an armada for battle, but a fanfare of pageantry celebrating the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Black clouds, gusting winds and often torrential rain — the hallmarks of a British summer outdoor event — were unable to darken the magnificence of the display, although several people were treated for hypothermia.

Hundreds of thousands gathered on the banks of the Thames to watch the queen glide past in a barge decorated with flowers, with her closest family at her side, including grandson Prince William and his wife, Kate.

Peter Jeary, NBC News

Rain-soaked spectators arrived early to get a good view.

The 1,000-strong flotilla was met by spectators lining 11 of the bridges that cross the river in the city center. Some of those had arrived in a chilly, miserable dawn to make sure they had the perfect view.

Eileen Scott, 67, from Southampton, England, had celebrated the start of Elizabeth's reign as a young girl. "We haven't had a pageant for so long,” she said. "I was here for the coronation. I was 8, and it was a dreadful day like this one."

In pictures: Britain honors Queen Elizabeth II with Diamond Jubilee

Erica Vey, a Royal Air Force veteran and amputee, was in the front row of spectators. "It is typically English to wait for hours on for something; we have the patience,” she said.

In the flotilla were kayaks, rowboats, barges and the Motor Torpedo Boat 102 on which the Allied Forces commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspected warships before the 1944 D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France. 

All were decorated with flags and banners, making an extraordinarily colorful spectacle harking back to Tudor times, when river pageants regularly took place for royal festivities.

'Look! I've got the queen!'
In the distance, the dull waters of the Thames were slowly developing color as the formation of 1,000 boats of different shapes, sizes and colors approached Westminster bridge. Music also accompanied mass displays enhancing the atmosphere of the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Bands on boats played "Pomp and Circumstance"; at one stage, a large vessel played Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair." Then an Indian bagpipe band played Asian renditions of "When the Saints Go Marching In," complemented by Bollywood-style dancing that prompted those watching on the bridge to join in the singing.

After three "hip hip hoorays," a woman started screaming out the national anthem, which spread over the whole bridge. Then the queen approached in the middle of the flotilla aboard the Spirit of Chartwell, where she stood and waved. 

There was a frenzy to snap pictures before the vessel  passed the bridge. Two women excitedly compared photographs: 

"Look! I've got the queen!"

"Wow!  I don't, but I have Will and Kate."

"You should give me your email. I'll email them to you."

Organizers say Sunday's river pageant was the largest of its kind in 350 years — when a similar spectacle was held for King Charles II and his consort, Catherine of Braganza, in 1662. 

Although the queen is still head of state in 16 countries from Australia and Canada to tiny Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean, Britain is now a shadow of its former imperial self. 

A much-needed joyous celebration
Historians and commentators say the pomp and spectacle of British royal occasion gives the country a sense of national pride at a time when the economy is in recession and people face deep austerity measures. 

Secret donors, foreign firms bankroll UK’s Diamond Jubilee celebration

Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, street parties were being held to mark the occasion. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, dropped in on one in central London before the pageant, joining in a rousing rendition of the national anthem. 

The government hopes the festivities will mark the start of a summer of revelry capped off by the Olympic Games in London, raising the public's spirits and its own poll ratings. 

However, economists have warned that the extra public holidays will hit Britain's already ailing economy, potentially prolonging a recession. 

The celebrations come as polls show overwhelming backing for the monarchy, which has overcome a slump in the 1990s following marital infidelities and the death of the hugely popular Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash. 

Last year's wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton was proof of such enduring appeal, with the ceremonial extravaganza attracting a global audience of up to 2 billion people. 

However, not everyone in London was cheering. The small yet vocal Republican movement planned a protest during the flotilla, saying the jubilee was "a celebration of inherited power and privilege, and those celebrations have no place in a modern democracy." 

Celebrations continue Monday with a pop concert outside Elizabeth's London residence, Buckingham Palace, where Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder will be among the acts. The band Madness is set to take to the roof of the famous landmark to belt out the hit song "Our House." 

Chiara Francavilla and Peter Jeary of NBC News in London and Alastair Jamieson of msnbc.com contributed to this report.

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Miro Kuzmanovic / Reuters, file

Prince Johan Friso poses at the Austrian alpine ski resort of Lech on February 19, 2011. He gave up his right to the Dutch throne when he married a commoner.

AMSTERDAM -- Austrian doctors treating the Dutch Prince Johan Friso said Friday that he suffered "massive brain damage" after being buried by an avalanche last week and he may never regain consciousness.

Doctor Wolfgang Koller said MRI scans had showed his brain may have suffered lasting harm in the avalanche in Lech on Feb. 17.

"It is clear that the oxygen starvation has caused massive brain damage to the patient," Koller said. "At the moment, it cannot be predicted if he will ever regain consciousness."

The 43-year-old prince will be moved at a later date to a private clinic for further treatment but it may take years before he awakens, if ever.

Upscale resort
The prince was skiing with one companion near the upscale western resort of Lech but away from marked ski runs when the mass of snow, about 100 feet wide and 130 feet long, hit them around midday, the Austria Press Agency said.

The Dutch royal family often spends winter holidays in Lech in the province of Vorarlberg, which like other parts of Austria has been blanketed with heavy snow in recent weeks.

Prince Johan Friso's older brother is Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his younger brother is Prince Constantijn.

Johan Friso gave up his right to the Dutch throne when he married a commoner whose past was considered too tainted for her to become a member of the Dutch royal house.

When he asked for official permission in 2003 to marry Mabel Wisse Smit, Dutch media published details of her relationship with mobster Klaas Bruinsma, who was shot and killed in 1991 in front of the Amsterdam Hilton hotel.

Dutch prince's life 'still in danger'

Following the revelations, the couple decided not to get official permission for their marriage.

The London-based prince joined URENCO, a uranium enrichment company, in 2011 as chief financial officer after earlier working at investment bank Goldman Sachs.

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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Frank Van Beek / AFP - Getty Images, file

Prince Friso and Princess Mabel on a skiing trip with their daughters Luana and Zaria last winter.

Updated at 4:57 p.m. ET: An avalanche buried and seriously injured the second son of Dutch Queen Beatrix while he skied off marked trails Friday in the westernmost corner of Austria and he was rushed to the intensive care unit of an Innsbruck hospital, officials said.

The Dutch government, which initially said 43-year-old Johan Friso's life was in danger later issued an update saying "his condition is stable but not out of danger."

"Her Majesty the Queen and (Friso's wife) Princess Mabel are with Prince Friso," the Dutch statement said, adding that "doctors treating him will only be able to give a prognosis in a matter of days."

Stefan Jochum, a spokesman for the Lech ski area where the accident occurred, said Friso's condition was serious but his life was no longer at risk.

Jochum said the accident happened early Friday afternoon as the prince and other skiers were on slopes away from marked Lech ski runs and laden with snow after weeks of record falls.

The Lech municipal office said a regional avalanche warning issued for the day was four on the five-point scale, meaning the danger was high.

"A snow slide came down and the prince was buried as the only member of the group," said Jochum in a telephone interview. A rescue helicopter was on the scene within minutes, and after Friso was located, he was resuscitated on the scene and flown to the hospital, Jochum said.

The Austria Press Agency earlier cited Lech Mayor Ludwig Muxel as saying Friso was buried for about 20 minutes by a snow mass that measured more than 30 yards by 40 yards when it hit him.

Friso was in Lech with other members of the royal family. Friso, the second of Beatrix's three sons, married Dutch commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, in 2004. The pair have two daughters, Countess Luana, 6, and Countess Zaria, 5.

Most recently Friso has worked as financial director at Urenco, the European uranium-enrichment consortium.

The crucial moment in his life as a member of the Dutch nobility came with his 2003 engagement to then-commoner Wisse Smit.

After the pair announced their intention to marry in 2003, Dutch media revealed that Wisse Smit's previous friendships included contacts while she was in college with a well-known figure in the Dutch underworld, a drug dealer who was later slain.

The couple publicly acknowledged having been "naive and incomplete" during her vetting process before joining the royal family. Then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende signaled he could not recommend the marriage to parliament for approval.

They married anyway, a decision that meant Friso's removal from the line of succession.

The couple are still part of Beatrix's family and attend important royal functions. Mabel has been granted the title "Princess Mabel" and Friso has an array of noble titles, including "Prince of Oranje-Nassau" — but not "Prince of the Netherlands."

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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