Saturday 13th July…5.30am and time to get up and get on with the day.
Several months ago I was offered two tickets to attend the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace…yes the real palace and London home of the Queen. Obviously I had no intention of refusing and so the day arrived and my daughter and I were on that 7.04 train out of Stockport.
Buckingham Palace.
9.30 and we were strolling through Green Park, making our way to Constitution Hill. So hot already with the sun blazing down and that feeling I always have when I visit London. Many years ago I lived in Southend,Essex and often travelled into the city. I love being in the bustle of it all, strolling alongside the Thames, wandering through the parks, visiting art galleries and museums. I have never tired of it. It is not a place I would live in but a visit, whether of one day or several uplifts me and somehow wakes me up.
It seemed that yesterday we were ahead of the crowd and the queue was small. A quick trip through security and there we stood…how amazing to walk under the archway at the side of the Palace and find yourself in beautiful gardens.
Constitution Hill just on the other side of the wall!
Many chimneys to clean.
Marquees and specially built stands where laid out at the back of the palace, perhaps the Royal Family perceive it as their front, from which they see wonderful lawns, trees and a small but not insignificant lake. Each of the stands/marquees was given to a business that is ‘By Appointment to Her Majesty’ and our invites came from Intramark.
Intramark is a UK company specialising in the manufacture of Uniform Accoutrements and Ceremonial Regalia and they hold The Royal Warrant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The Place for Salmon and Champagne…
We decided to walk alongside a beautiful flower bed and through shady trees, on the other side of the wall was Constitution Hill! And so we spent our morning wandering about stopping for a muffin and strawberries, whilst listening first to a jazz singer and then two lovely ladies singing Glenn Miller songs on a small stage set up under the trees.
Glenn Miller in the shade.
The perfect platter for the heat.
Lunch had to be the salmon platter and champagne and then off to the Rose Garden. A walk around the lake and visits to various stands. A smart gentleman in suit and tie was manning a stand pipe filling all our empty bottles with drinking water and asking if we were enjoying our day!! Oh my goodness where else in the UK would that happen…a lovely man providing much needed water on such a hot day.
The Water Feature…
Katie with the perfect drink….
Later we were to be found at the Martini Bar which is something I haven’t had for years. A glass full of ice over which they poured a martini of your choice and topped it up with Prosecco…delicious!
Royal roses.
So beautiful!
And this is Buckingham Palace!
Time to go home.
A great day.
Our visit was almost over. We had such a wonderful time and how amazing to have that opportunity…we relished every moment and came home weary but with memories to last forever.
Many thanks to Mike and Mike of Intramark for their wonderful invitation.
Lovely to see Dotty Homes.