Social Events & Meetings
“The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Her Majesty to invite ……….”
And so began the honour of being invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace this summer!
In fact, the surprise of the royal envelope arriving in April, complete with the gold embossed invitation printed on the thickest card imaginable and plenty of detailed instructions for the day, wasn’t unexpected although it was still exciting to open the envelope and read the contents from cover to cover.
Back in January I’d been contacted by Sarah Richards, the Law Society’s Relationship Manager for the South West and Midlands. Quite out of the blue she told me that the Lord Chamberlain’s Office at Buckingham Palace had asked The Law Society to nominate a few solicitors to attend one of the three Buckingham Palace Garden Parties this year and that they’d like to nominate me! To say I was astounded is an understatement, but I was thrilled to be invited and considered it an honour for DASLS and the profession in our neck of the woods. I was asked to indicate in order of preference three afternoon dates in May. I opted for the third and latest of the dates – Wednesday 29th May, thinking that it was likely to be the warmer and sunnier option being closest to June. This turned out to be a mistake!
The date quickly approached and with outfits sorted for my wife Liz and I, and a hotel booked for the evening after, we made our way to London by train for the big day. The forecast mentioned the possibility of a shower or two in the afternoon, so we decided to take two small brollies “just in case”. It had been dry for weeks and the previous two Garden Parties had been bathed in sunshine so surely we’d be fine. London was warm and sunny, and we grabbed some lunch before heading to our hotel to change into our finery. Just as we got to the hotel the cloud was building so we thought we’d better take the brollies even though we really didn’t particularly want them with us. The hotel was close to The Palace and as we left we felt the first little drops of rain. By the time we got to The Mall it was beginning to rain properly – of course it was – the Opening Ceremony for the Cricket World Cup was taking place at the top end of the Mall, and prior to the Garden Party the Queen was meeting all of the team captains at Buckingham Palace.
We’d been told that there were three possible entrances to the Garden, but that we were welcome to go through the front entrance and through part of the Palace, so we were determined to go in that way. Unfortunately, but understandably, most of the other guests preferred the same route, so we joined a huge and already soggy queue to proceed slowly towards the gates where polite but firm Police officers were checking identification documents in the downpour. Bizarrely the queue was rather fun (I’ve just realised how terribly British that sounds!) but as we were trying to prevent our umbrellas from blowing inside out there was plenty of evidence of bulldog spirit with the fellow guests around us – particularly as we sympathised with guests from the armed services who weren’t allowed umbrellas with their uniforms and with some of those wearing national costume from all around the Commonwealth – some of which were rather flimsy!
After making it through the ID check, there began a rather amusing attempt to walk very slowly through the magnificent rooms inside the Palace in order to spend as long as possible in the dry as we made our way through the Grand Entrance (the area where the horse driven coaches pull in for State occasions), through the Green Drawing Room by the Grand Staircase, through the Music Room and out onto the covered area at the top of the steps leading down into the Garden. At the top of the steps were members of the armed forces gently urging guests to step down into the garden and out into the rain again!
To be honest the spectacle of the Garden Party then hit home as we surveyed the gardens before us. An enormous tea tent ran down the whole length of the left had side of the garden. In the distance at the foot of the garden the Royal tea tent. Two tents for the military bands were set up in opposite corners of the garden. Hundreds of wooden tables and canvas chairs were set up along the length of the tea tent and in clusters under trees around the garden edge, with plenty of room to accommodate the expected 8,000 guests. Even in the poor weather it was a lovely sight!
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Tea was already being served so to get out of the weather we went into the tea tent to make the most of the spread! To start with a glass of the Queen’s homemade lemonade. Then queuing up for the tea – sandwiches, wraps, salmon, tarts, scones and cakes of all varieties – plus a range of teas. It would have been rude not to sample a variety of what was on offer! Mind you the plates aren’t huge so it’s not possible to head off with a carvery style mound of food! The food was lovely. Created with precision and presented beautifully. To my delight the Queen has her scones prepared the right way – ie the Devon way with jam on top! Well I’ve heard a rumour that they alternate the cream and jam at each Garden Party but I’m not having any of that. In addition, there were actually chocolate cakes with golden crowns on top!
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By some miracle the rain stopped for a while, so we headed outside to eat and wait for the start of the formal proceedings. A crowd quickly started to gather from the foot of the steps from the Palace down into the garden and it became apparent that many of the guests had attended before – I think some of the military and diplomatic guests might attend quite frequently. They were all getting a good spot for the arrival of the Royal Party. Although a way back we stood in a position with a decent view. On the dot of 4pm the Royal Party walked out of the Palace and to
ok their places at the top of the steps – Her Majesty The Queen in the centre, accompanied by Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and the Duke of Duchess of Gloucester. One of the bands immediately struck up The National Anthem as all present stood. At the conclusion of the anthem the Queen headed straight for the top of the rain sodden steps, grasped the handrail and headed down at some pace – some pace for anyone let alone a 93 year old!
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What followed was the dispersal of the Royal Party into what are known as “lanes” through the guests – the route of the lanes are marked by Yeoman of the Guard standing and with no actual ropes or barriers. The guests respect the route being taken by the Royals and watch respectfully, and with some courtesy allowing people who can’t see to move to the front, as the Royals move forward being introduced to previously selected groups of people from public organisations, or charities, including those that hold special interest for the particular Royals in attendance at the Party. It was interesting watching the quick briefing being given by an equerry before the Queen or member of the Royal Family is introduced and leads what was quite often a lengthy conversation. We followed the Queen and then Prince Harry for a while
and it was impressive to see the length of their conversations and the obvious interest that they were taking in the discussions. We saw the Queen lead a conversation with a young army cadet for an age, which must have been quite an experience for the youngster!
Sadly, after a while it began to rain again, and the Royal party headed into the Royal Tea Tent with specially invited guests. The two of us headed back into the tea tent for shelter (it was bitterly cold in the rain once the chill had set in), but from then on the tent was very crowded with people also taking shelter, and periodically we went out to listen to the bands or have a bit of a walk around the garden. Securing further cups of tea became a priority for warmth purposes! The waiting staff walking around offering little tubs of ice cream didn’t have too many takers although of course I had to try one!
By 5.30 the Royal Party had departed back into the Palace and we had one last tour of the garden and then headed back up the steps into the Palace which we were required to leave by 6pm. We made our way back through the ground floor rooms, out into the quadrangle and then across the Palace forecourt before heading outside the gates to be asked by several foreign visitors to London where we’d been and what was going on. Inevitably by now the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out!
So, all in all it was a tremendous experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity. The weather was a shame given that it just rained for the wrong couple of hours, but it didn’t dampen our enjoyment of the day. It was a real honour to be invited to represent the profession and DASLS and I’m very grateful to The Law Society for their kind nomination.
Chris Hart
DASLS Honorary Secretary
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