State visit 2025: river closure notice
Published 7 July 2025
When
Monday 7 July 2025, 11.30am to 12.30pm.
Tuesday 8 July 2025, 10am to 1pm.
Where
Romney reach, Windsor & Eton Footbridge to Romney Lock.
Details
To facilitate the state visit of the French President Emmanuel Macron to the United Kingdom, the River Thames will be closed between Windsor & Eton Footbridge and Romney Lock.
No passage through the closed area will be possible during the published times of closure.
We apologise for any inconvenience these closures cause and thank you for your patience during this time.
Byelaws
Nothing contained in these directions shall supersede those parts of the Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993 and the UK Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 as may be relevant. Particular attention should be paid to byelaws 24-42 of the Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993, Steering Sailing and Speed.
And Notice is hereby given, that it is provided by Byelaw 52 of the Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993 that:
The master of any vessel shall except in an emergency not pass any boat-race regatta public procession or gathering for the launch of a vessel or any other event or function which may cause a crowd to assemble on or by the river nor station his vessel thereon in such a manner as would risk obstructing impeding or interfering with such boat-race regatta procession launching event or function or endangering the safety of persons assembling on the river or preventing or interfering with the maintenance of order thereon.
The maximum penalty for breach of the Byelaws is £1,000.
Read our Thames Navigation Licensing and General Byelaws 1993.