Buckingham Palace Garden Party
Having received my invite for the Queens Garden Party it was a frantic time trying to find something suitable to wear. I eventually bought four dresses and several pairs of shoes and debated right up until the week before which one I was going to wear. Once decided it was a case of going and finding suitable head wear. I tried several hats on; they just weren't me, so in the end picked a discrete fascinator. (EVERYONE had something on their heads!)
The big day arrived, I was sick with excitement and nerves with a long train ride ahead of me. Having checked and rechecked my case so many times to make sure I had everything that I needed, we were off. We booked into a lovely B&B in East London (http://www.cablestreetinn.co.uk/) our luxury felt like it had already started! We changed and set off for the palace.
Poised with invite in hand, I stood very nervously outside Buckingham Palace gates waiting to be let in. Part of me still wondering if it was some sort of a joke, another part of me nervous and excited at the same time. The gates opened early and we were off, a huge line of people all crunched up the gravel driveway towards the courtyard. All chatting and taking pictures as we inched further to the gardens. I.D. checked, invites handed in and we were walking through the palace admiring the décor and furniture that adorned the vast hallways.
Walking out through the doors to the back garden I was taken aback by how big and vast the space was. Tents erected at the side, bands playing in the distance, the royal tea tent facing you some distance away. We walked down the stairs onto the gardens. Turning to look at just how vast the palace was, it was hard to take in such splendour.
We walked around the gardens, admiring the tranquillity and amazed that such a wonderful huge space was actually in the centre of London. Having walked around the gardens we headed for the tea tent, already queues had started to form. You are handed an oblong plate drinks were dispensed (I don’t actually like tea so had apple juice instead). The sandwiches were as I had read with the crusts cut off and thinly sliced cucumber were offered with egg mayonnaise and ham and tomato, along with a selection of delicious (if not tiny) cakes. The seating was totally inadequate for the amount of people there and unless you are lucky, or are the first through the doors then it’s a case of standing and balancing your plate, bag and possibly umbrella as you try and eat.
In no time at all the lines seem to start to be made. I thought we would be behind some sort of barrier, but no we were just stood lining the route. As it happens we were stood in the Queens line. The national anthem started and the Queen and Prince Philip appeared on the steps that we had just walked down.
It seemed a long time before the Queen reached where we were stood. Although I wasn’t one of the select few that were picked to speak to and shake hands with the Queen, I was so close to her it was amazing. I was taken aback by how dainty she was. She had a constant smile on her face and was talking intently to those that had been picked to meet her. She walked passed us so we went to look at the next queue.
It is hard to know who is in what queue but it was worth a look anyway. It turned out to be Prince Philips queue. After seeing how dainty the Queen was Prince Philip was very tall in comparison. He too seemed very pleasant and chatted happily away to the guests.
After seeing Prince Philip past, we went to line in the queue for another drink. The queue was much longer this time and the sandwiches and cakes selection had vastly shrank and they were even starting to close certain parts of the tents. We got another drink and went to see if there were any seats finally free anywhere. Having walked around and looked with no luck, we resigned ourselves to stand some more. We drank our drinks and walked around some more, many people were taking photos (which we were told would not be allowed) but no one seemed to be stopping them.
It was an amazing day, one that I will remember forever. Even though I did not get to chat to the Queen (or Prince Philip or Princess Beatrice) it was still a wonderful experience. Walking out through the front of Buckingham Palace you are met by a barrage or tourists with cameras all poking through the gates, all thinking that you are someone of standing or even royalty and are snapping away with excitement that they have seen someone coming out of the palace.
My tips for the day if you are lucky enough to be invited, wear very comfortable shoes, get your drinks (and food) earlier rather than later. Look around the gardens if you get chance. Try and get into roughly the right position in the line for the procession (read the map that’s sent with the invite and you should know roughly where you should be standing.) Most importantly enjoy the day; it seems to pass really quickly (although your feet are telling you otherwise!) There was never any queues for the toilets (although the disabled one did seem to have quite a lengthy queue so beware if you are disabled, I don’t know if there were any other toilets but the ones we went were just down the palace steps to the left behind the tea tents and there was only one disabled toilet there, hence the large queue).
Have a great day and enjoy every moment of it.
Having received my invite for the Queens Garden Party it was a frantic time trying to find something suitable to wear. I eventually bought four dresses and several pairs of shoes and debated right up until the week before which one I was going to wear. Once decided it was a case of going and finding suitable head wear. I tried several hats on; they just weren't me, so in the end picked a discrete fascinator. (EVERYONE had something on their heads!)
The big day arrived, I was sick with excitement and nerves with a long train ride ahead of me. Having checked and rechecked my case so many times to make sure I had everything that I needed, we were off. We booked into a lovely B&B in East London (http://www.cablestreetinn.co.uk/) our luxury felt like it had already started! We changed and set off for the palace.
Poised with invite in hand, I stood very nervously outside Buckingham Palace gates waiting to be let in. Part of me still wondering if it was some sort of a joke, another part of me nervous and excited at the same time. The gates opened early and we were off, a huge line of people all crunched up the gravel driveway towards the courtyard. All chatting and taking pictures as we inched further to the gardens. I.D. checked, invites handed in and we were walking through the palace admiring the décor and furniture that adorned the vast hallways.
Walking out through the doors to the back garden I was taken aback by how big and vast the space was. Tents erected at the side, bands playing in the distance, the royal tea tent facing you some distance away. We walked down the stairs onto the gardens. Turning to look at just how vast the palace was, it was hard to take in such splendour.
We walked around the gardens, admiring the tranquillity and amazed that such a wonderful huge space was actually in the centre of London. Having walked around the gardens we headed for the tea tent, already queues had started to form. You are handed an oblong plate drinks were dispensed (I don’t actually like tea so had apple juice instead). The sandwiches were as I had read with the crusts cut off and thinly sliced cucumber were offered with egg mayonnaise and ham and tomato, along with a selection of delicious (if not tiny) cakes. The seating was totally inadequate for the amount of people there and unless you are lucky, or are the first through the doors then it’s a case of standing and balancing your plate, bag and possibly umbrella as you try and eat.
In no time at all the lines seem to start to be made. I thought we would be behind some sort of barrier, but no we were just stood lining the route. As it happens we were stood in the Queens line. The national anthem started and the Queen and Prince Philip appeared on the steps that we had just walked down.
It seemed a long time before the Queen reached where we were stood. Although I wasn’t one of the select few that were picked to speak to and shake hands with the Queen, I was so close to her it was amazing. I was taken aback by how dainty she was. She had a constant smile on her face and was talking intently to those that had been picked to meet her. She walked passed us so we went to look at the next queue.
It is hard to know who is in what queue but it was worth a look anyway. It turned out to be Prince Philips queue. After seeing how dainty the Queen was Prince Philip was very tall in comparison. He too seemed very pleasant and chatted happily away to the guests.
After seeing Prince Philip past, we went to line in the queue for another drink. The queue was much longer this time and the sandwiches and cakes selection had vastly shrank and they were even starting to close certain parts of the tents. We got another drink and went to see if there were any seats finally free anywhere. Having walked around and looked with no luck, we resigned ourselves to stand some more. We drank our drinks and walked around some more, many people were taking photos (which we were told would not be allowed) but no one seemed to be stopping them.
It was an amazing day, one that I will remember forever. Even though I did not get to chat to the Queen (or Prince Philip or Princess Beatrice) it was still a wonderful experience. Walking out through the front of Buckingham Palace you are met by a barrage or tourists with cameras all poking through the gates, all thinking that you are someone of standing or even royalty and are snapping away with excitement that they have seen someone coming out of the palace.
My tips for the day if you are lucky enough to be invited, wear very comfortable shoes, get your drinks (and food) earlier rather than later. Look around the gardens if you get chance. Try and get into roughly the right position in the line for the procession (read the map that’s sent with the invite and you should know roughly where you should be standing.) Most importantly enjoy the day; it seems to pass really quickly (although your feet are telling you otherwise!) There was never any queues for the toilets (although the disabled one did seem to have quite a lengthy queue so beware if you are disabled, I don’t know if there were any other toilets but the ones we went were just down the palace steps to the left behind the tea tents and there was only one disabled toilet there, hence the large queue).
Have a great day and enjoy every moment of it.
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