Dame Joan Collins flashed her royal wave from a Jag, Kate Moss blew us kisses, Sir Cliff seranaded fans from his double decker and a certain fox in a Union Jack jacket had the time of his life.
Elsewhere Dame Prue Leith’s car needed a push, The Wombles were on a day out from Wimbledon common and Sir Mo Farah was doing the mobot.
For it may have been mid-afternoon in early summer, but hundreds of our biggest and brightest stars were out to light up The Mall in yesterday’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant - each paying their own unique tribute to the most worthy National Treasure of them all: the Queen.
The celeb-packed Time of Our Lives section of the parade proved just that - each decade of the Queen’s reign was represented by with a literal busload of famous faces, celebrating in true British fashion: joyful, proud and unashamedly and delightfully eccentric.
Or as Lulu put it: “That’s what I love about the Brits, we are crazy and fun.”
They was indeed plenty to shout about.
Sir Cliff, having flown in especially from Florida, got his chance on the mic - having joked he was “green with envy” watching the night before’s concert - as he led the 1950s bus with the likes of Bonnie Langford, Gloria Hunniford and Hayley Mills accompanied by rock n’roll dancers, a flock of Morris Minors and of course...a dancing Bill and Ben The Flowerpot Men.
As one of the few names who’s been in the limelight for almost as long as Her Majesty, Sir Cliff joked: “They’ve got buses for all of the decades. I should be on all of them!”
The Daily Mirror did manage to one up Sir Cliff as our front pages featured on the sides of both the 50s and 60s buses.
But when it came to celebs, there were hundreds who’d come along for the bus ride.
The flower power, Swinging sixties bus gave us Blue Peter’s Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves reunited, Mr Boom Boom himself, Basil Brush (In an unfortunate outfit clash with Sir Cliff) and one of the Queen’s personal favourites Alan Titchmarsh.
It was chased by a troop of Daleks, and followed by mods and rockers, and 60 years’ of Bond cars, including the Rolls Royce Phantom driven by Oddjob in Goldfinger.
The 70s bus, which had been decorated with David Bowie’s famed lightning strike insignia, meanwhile saw Newsround’s John Craven joking with legendary Children’s presenter Johnny Ball - “I haven’t paid my fare,” laughed the former Playschool host.
Strictly’s Shirley Ballas, singer Heather Small and Angela Rippon giggled over how the “atmosphere was electric” on the so-called “best bus” and the Lovely Debbie McGee brought a touch of nostalgic magic.
This time following behind was the odd punk, an ABBA tribute float, a team on spacehoppers and a huge rainbow flag in tribute to the beginnings of the gay pride movement - a gesture backed by the appearance of Her Majesty’s fellow queens, The Vivienne and friends from Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
The eclectic melting pot of wacky British pop culture continued into the 80s with the Only Fools and Horses Robin Reliant, followed by a mass of Sinclair C5s leading the bus which saw Daley Thompson rubbing shoulders with Torvill and Dean, Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley and Anthony Head, whose Nescafe Gold Blend ads dominated 80s advertising.
All seemed dangerously close to a bop on the head from Timmy Mallet and his Mallet’s Mallet.
Tony said: “It’s actually quite emotional....what a moment in history.”
Princes Charles and William clearly agreed. Both looked delighted by the 80s display and even more so the 90s.
Back in the Spice Girls’ 90s heyday it was Geri Halliwell who made headlines by giving Prince Charles a peck on the cheek.
Yesterday it was supermodel Kate Moss instead who was blowing kisses from atop the Cool Britannia 90s bus - as she was reunited with fellow supermodel Naomi Campbell, and 90s party queen Patsy Kensit.
Asked if she enjoyed the “Mad fer it” decade in which she married Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, Patsy laughed: “From what I can remember, it was wonderful.”
The 2000s gave us Sir Mo Farah and Dame Kelly Holmes, All Saints’ the Appleton sisters, and How To Look Good Naked’s Gok Wan, all dancing away to the iconic Steps with the 2010s bus reuniting The X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger with Rylan Clark after his famous sobbing audition made him a household name.
And while Pussycat Doll Nicole might be American, she was all about celebrating the woman who first flew the flag for girl power - The Queen. “She’s a legend we all look up to her,” she said.
This Morning ’s Holly Willoughby added: “She’s just the most incredible, amazing iconic lady. This is all just magical.”
The same could be said of the Dame in Jags, the honoured women whose own status got them upgraded to a car for the procession rather than having to catch a bus.
Dame Darcey Bussell admitted The Queen was not the biggest fan of ballet, Dame Twiggy, (Lesley Lawson), was riding in a car owned by Oasis’s Noel Gallagher, and poor Dame Prue Leith wasn’t going to let a little thing like a broken down car get in her way of the parade, as she continued to wave and smile while her car had to be pushed along by four (tireless) stewards.
It was the grandest dame of all who perhaps best summarised this remarkable - and uniquely British - Time Of Our Lives segment of the pageant. Admitting she’d practised her own royal wave for the big day, Dame Joan Collins could not have been more proud to be involved.
She smiled: “The vibe here is extraordinary. Her Majesty is going to adore it.”
Well, we certainly did. Wombles and all.
