Tuesday, 3 June 2014

Royal Garden Party


On Tuesday the 3rd of June, I had the immense pleasure of attending the Royal Garden Party with 3 wonderful ladies. The first question everyone has asked me is 'how did you get invited?' Obviously, it is because I am very important! In reality, the Australian Embassy has an allotment of invites which Australian residents can apply for and I was lucky enough to secure one of these invites. I highly recommend applying - it is the social event of the year!



We arrive at Buckingham Palace and wait among the guests to enter the front courtyard of the Palace. We are ushered past the guards (not willing to ask them to pose for a photo) to pass through two reception rooms, both ornately decorated. We emerge onto the West Terrace overlooking the largest private garden in London (and it is huge!). The sun was shining as we descended the stairs to explore the gardens before Tea was served.


We are served cold drinks and tea, and an assortment of delicacies (including cucumber with mint sandwiches!). I loaded up plated with as much as I could carry as I didn't want to miss a thing! 
The Queen and Royal family were due to arrive in the Gardens at 4, so after we ate our afternoon tea we headed to the Royal Tent to begin forming 'lanes' to which the members of the Royal family would walk down. 10 minutes before the Queen was due to arrive it began raining. Due to rain, we missed the band play God Save the Queen to mark the arrival of the Royal Family - we waited anxiously unsure if Queen would come out in the rain! 

 
After a short while, the rain cleared and the Beefeaters emerged to help organise the lanes in which the Royal Family were walking down! This excitement causes us to start to wonder 'what do we call the Queen when she comes past?' (answer: Her Royal Majesty). Shortly, a reverential silence comes over the crowd and as I strain my neck I get my first glimpse of the Queen. She looked amazing in a yellow outfit. Soon afterwards she was scurrying past us into the Royal Tent.
 


Shortly, through another lane, Prince Phillip pops up and makes a comment on my shoes! I am not entirely sure what he said but I definitely think he was implying that they were mouldy!




Last but not least, Prince Charles, comes strolling down the final lane, umbrella in hand! He stops to chat to guests along the way, trying to talk to as many as he can. Eventually he stops and talks to us, chatting to us about the weather and if we were enjoying our day. It was an incredibly surreal experience to say that I had spoken to Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.
After half hour or so in the tent, we formed one long line and ushered the Royal Family back to Buckingham Palace.




We continued to bask in the sunshine in the amazing gardens! Until at 6pm, the band once again played God Save the Queen to mark the end of the garden party. We left the glorious gardens and emerged into the Central Palace Courtyard - its truly a rare experience to be on the inside of the gates, emerging as one of the fortunate few to be invited within the inner sanctum that is Buckingham palace.