US Edition A 62-gun salute thundered from the Tower of London as the Queen entered the City of London to perform a ceremony almost as ancient as the monarchy itself.
The Gold State Coach paused at Temple Bar, on the spot where Sir Christopher Wren's original gates marked the City boundary.
There, obeying a tradition dating back to the City's Charter granted in 1215, and symbolic of the Queen's authority, the Lord Mayor, Alderman Michael Oliver, lent into the coach to allow the Queen to touch the hilt of the Pearl Sword. One of five City swords, the Pearl Sword, which legend suggests was given to the City by Elizabeth I when the first Royal Exchange opened in 1571, takes its name from its scabbard of pearls.
Immediately before arrival of the Queen's procession the Lord Mayor received the Pearl Sword from the Swordbearer, Brig Neill O'Connor.
The Lord Mayor advanced and surrendered it to the Queen by presenting the hilt which she touched. Both the sword and the mace were then raised.
Michael Oliver, the 674th Lord Mayor of the City of London, then welcomed her to the City before leading the sovereign's procession to St Paul's, where, bareheaded, he preceded the Queen up the steps to the West Door bearing the sword aloft.
When the Queen was seated, the sword was placed by the Lord Mayor on a cushion on a table in front of her with the hilt to her right hand. Seven new fanfares, composed for the occasion by Elgar Howard, accompanied the ceremonial procession through the City.
The works were based on the themes of traditional national favourites.
• Forty-one demonstrators were arrested in London for breach of the peace yesterday after gathering in Tower Hill for an "execute the Queen" street party. The London Ambulance Service treated 568 people for minor medical complaints during yesterday's jubilee celebrations.