Garden Party
20th May 2025Buckingham Palace
After a lovely lunch at the Royal Ocean Racing Club in St James Place, very kindly organised for 30 Masters and Consorts by the IPM of the Nurses Livery, Jane Carey-Harris, we made the very short stroll to Buckingham Palace to join a few thousand close friends of the Royal Family in the queue to get into Buckingham Palace.
Fortunately, the weather was ideal - no rain and not too hot for those of us wearing old style, heavyweight Morning Dress!
After a wander around and a photoshoot with many other Livery Masters and Consorts next to the bandstand, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family joined the Garden Party and moved around meeting people. Carolyn was delighted to find that she shared her fashion sense with the Princess of Wales - both wearing yellow ensembles and white hats!
Guided by our friend Elena Oderstone, the Master Fueller, who knows Prince Edward from his time in the Fuellers, we positioned ourselves away from the main crowds and managed to be in the right place to meet him and have a very pleasant conversation. We also met the Lord and Lady Mayoress.
We then had a delicious tea in the main tea tent, followed by a superb Hackney Gelato ice cream (I didn't know they make ice-cream in Hackney!), finally leaving at 6.00pm.
A wonderful day and an experience to always remember!