Leading article: Nothing could have been more British

As it turned out, yesterday's Diamond Jubilee pageant was even more quintessentially British than anyone could have hoped for. Not because of the waving Royals and the vast crowds that turned out to see them. Not because of the seemingly endless sartorial permutations of the Union Flag. Not even because of all the limp sandwiches and bad cakes. All that was never in doubt. It was the weather that did us truly proud.

There may be those in Britain who do not approve of hereditary monarchy. There may also be those who remain aloof from all spasms of national mood, unmoved by World Cups, Royal Weddings and the Last Nights of the Proms alike. But there is, surely, no one in the country who has never stood outside in the rain, shivering damply into their cagoule on a day that was meant to be warm, and stoically refused to give in. If nothing else can unite us as a country, then, at least the weather can. Tea, anyone?