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We got to London just before 12 and
headed straight for our favourite haunt – the Hard Rock Café.
Unfortunately the restaurant was closed due to a recent fire
and won’t be open until September. Happily we found a pub
round the corner and had a spot of lunch before making our way
across Green Park to the Palace. There were loads of ladies in
their posh frocks and, like me, carrying their hats in plastic
bags. We joined the queue at 2.15 – the gates were supposed to
open at 3pm. Next thing we knew a Policewoman started ushering
us forward and through the gates into the front courtyard. We
made four orderly queues and then waited there for a while
whilst the sentries entertained us. Then we were ushered
through into the inside courtyard and waited there. It was
really strange because no-one spoke at all - silence – even
though there must have been at least a thousand people queued
up there.
Eventually we went up some steps – complete with red carpet –
and walked through a gigantic hallway and then into another
room and out into the garden. It was massive, nothing like I
imagined it would be. There was a big tea tent on the
left-hand side with tables and chairs outside and on the right
were two tea tents, one for foreign dignitaries and one for
the Queen and her party. |
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There were two bands in the garden that
played alternately.
We decided to head off and explore the garden and walked
around the lake. It was such a shame that you weren’t allowed
to take cameras in. There was the most beautiful rose garden
and a tennis court tucked away in the far corner. I assume
that Diana used to use it and I did wonder who might use it
now. One thing that shocked me was the state of the grass. It
was very brown and patchy and had lots of dandelions growing
in it!
By the time we’d walked around the lake – well hobbled really
because my shoes were starting to hurt by then (sorry any
fellas reading this – it’s a woman thing) – the garden had
really started to fill up. All the tables and chairs were
taken by the tea tent but we managed to find a couple of green
plastic chairs – the type they sell at B&Q – and plonked
ourselves by the lake in front of the Royal tea tent.
It was the band at the lake end’s turn to play and I couldn’t
believe was I was hearing. They were playing the Mickey Mouse
Club song – you now M I C K E Y M O U S E followed by the
appalling ‘It’s a Small World’. Anyone who’s been to Disney
will know what I mean! |
At 3.30 they started serving tea but we
decided to wait a while and did a bit of people watching. Some
of the ladies’ outfits were really lovely and had obviously
cost a small fortune but then other ladies hadn’t seemed to
bother at all. One hat that we saw was obviously a home-made
creation. It looked at bit like a funnel that the tin man
would wear with garlands of flowers attached to it. It might
have been a Philip Treacy hat, but I doubt it. Again I wished
I’d had a camera with me!
I queued up for tea, leaving Clint guarding our plastic
chairs. They had these oblong china saucer-type plates, that
is there was a little round ‘denty’ bit for your teacup and
then you could pile your food on as well.
There were sandwiches, with crusts cut off of course, which
had then been cut into strips. Egg mayonnaise with something
‘green’ in it which might have been fennel or dill, cheese
with another suspect thing in it, ham (this couldn’t have had
anything ‘iffy’ in because Clint ate it) and then prawns.
Yummy.
And then there were little tiny scones with jam and clotted
cream on, a sort of baked cheesecake, small cubes of fruit
cake, tartlets with strawberries on, some beautiful little
tiny cakes with raspberry jam that was ‘set’ on top and
another type of yummy moist cake with something unidentifiable
on top but it tasted ok. |
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We had a choice of tea, iced coffee or
Sandringham Lemonade to drink.
Whilst I was queuing up the signal came that the Queen and her
party were about to come out of the Palace. The band played
the National Anthem – but nobody seemed to sing which
surprised me – and we all clapped afterwards. And that was all
that I saw of the Queen because she got lost in the crowd and
never made it to the Royal tea tent. She was supposed to be
there at 4.30 pm.
We left at 5pm and made our way back to Waterloo to catch the
6 o’clock train and had to stand all the way to Guildford. I’m
afraid the shoes had to come off – and what a relief that was.
I’ve got to wear them again on Saturday to my brother’s
wedding – couldn’t afford two new posh outfits in one week!
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