Village Squire, 1979-05, Page 29TRAVEL
A look
at Buckingham
Palace
from the inside.
BY DOROTHY L. THORNTON
"They're changing guard at Buckingham
Palace.
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Do you think the Queen knows all about
me?
Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea."
--A.A.Milne
Our 747 British Airway, jet prepared to
land at Heathrow, London, England, on
July 25, 1977. As I fastened my seat belt,
the lines of A.A. Milne's poem from
Christopher Robin, came to my memory.
Tomorrow, we would attend the Queen's
Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. I felt
just like Alice. This was to be an event we
had anticipated in our family for over six
months.
in January. at the beginning of Queen
Elizabeth's Jubilee year, I read in the
travel section of the London Free Press that
Canadians may apply to Canada House for
invitations to one of the Queen's Garden
Parties. I mailed our application and
patiently waited. In the meantime, we read
all the literature and information we could
find about the preparations in London,
England for this great celebration, and
learned a little of what to expect if we were
granted invitations.
We had been in London the two previous
summers, and like all tourists had been
thrilled by the Changing of the Guards at
Buckingham Palace and being part of
thousands who joined the throngs of people
who stood outside the gates and high iron
fence or under Queen Victoria's monu-
ment. We, too had stood with pressed
faces between the iron bars and security
gates watching the palace guards in their
sentry boxes and the bobbies checking the
crowd. Our eyes had scanned the windows
for some sign of a curtain moving and the
roof for the flag flying. We had never seen
any sign of life, nor had never seen the
flag, which meant that Queen Elizabeth
had not been in residence.
We received a letter telling us to pick up
our invitations, upon arrival in London, at
Canada House. Our only instructions were
to wear afternoon dress, hat and
gloves --men were to wear business suits.
Our stay in London was to be for 10 days
and it was at the Royal Trafalgar Hotel,
near Canada House and also within
walking distance of Buckingham Palace,
an English naval officer and his wife who
just through St. James Park.
Canada House is a large impressive
stone structure from which our Canadian
flag flies proudly. Each land of the
Commonwealth was granted a certain
number of invitations to each of the four
Royal Garden Parties. The one we were to
attend was the last, July 26. At Canada
House we were warmly greeted and given
our invitation from the Lord Chamberlain,
St. James' Palace. Inside the envelope,
were instructions for entering the palace as
well as a special ticket to be used on the
windscreen of the taxi, in which we.would
ride.
Tuesday morning, when the sun shone
over the chimney pots in Whitcomb Street
into our room, I realized that the day, we
had looked forward to for so many months
was finally here. I don't mind telling you
that I had a few butterflies in my stomach.
It was to be a very formal occasion and I
had carefully carried my white wide -brim-
med hat in a special bag. Somehow, my
gloves had been left at home. This was a
good excuse to visit Harrod's that morning
and purchase new ones. A long but
pleasant walk across St. James' Park, the
Mall and Constitution Hill to Knightbridge
brought us to Harrods', one of the largest
stores in Europe.
The Garden Party, on- the grounds
behind Buckingham Palace was to be held
from 4 to 6 p.m., but the gates were open
at 3:15. Our hotel porter suggested that we
leave at 2:45 p.m. and we certainly
intended to be there and miss nothing of
this very special occasion. The Royal
Trafalgar staff was all quite excited about
us coming from Canada and attending the
Garden Party. At 2:30, a porter ran up to
Leicester Square to get us a taxi, while the
head porter took our picture. We gave the
special label to our driver who promised
me we could have it after to keep for a
souvenir.
From Trafalgar we entered the Mall,
where there are three double lanes. You,
no doubt can remember this area from
pictures of royal weddings, funerals and
the coronation. The middle lane goes
through huge royal iron gates with the H R
H insignia. These are only open for rare
occasions and not very many people have
had the privilege to go through them.
Today, was ours to enjoy this special
privilege. Whenever a bobby held up his
stick to stop us, our driver showed the label
and we were waved on. Special
silver -tasselled royal standards and float-
ing Union Jacks made it a very regal
setting.
At the south Centre Gate, we left our cab
and joined a long, queue, on Constitution
Hill. Thousands and thousands of tourists
were everywhere. How they must have
envied us! Standing in line behind us were
we learned had spent some time in eastern
Canada during his training. Time slipped
by quickly as we chatted with them.
Watching the guests' arrival, with women
in their beautiful dresses and hats and
many men in complete formal attire with
top hat, gloves and gold -headed cane was
very interesting. The great gates were
finally opened and as our line moved
around the palace wall to the gate, I felt
like another Alice ---"Alice in Wonder-
land". Was I really entering the forecourt
of Buckingham Palace or would I awaken
and find the palace gone and it was a
dream. Today, the Union Jack was flying
proudly from the turret of Buckingham
Palace. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was
at home.
Jamaicans, South Aficans, South African
blacks, Indians from India, Pakistan and
southern island members of the Common-
wealth could be easily distinguished by
their skin colour and dress. We were only
recognizable by our accents --everyone
knew we couldn't be Americans --they were
not extended invitations.
On the turrets of Buckingham Palace
roof, we noticed secret service men with
spy glasses watching the queue. Finally,
the great moment came and we all moved
forward, inside the front courtyard. Our
queue entered by the front and right gate.
Inside, we gave a palace guard our blue
invitation. Through the cinder driveway to
the palace arches, we proceeded. There
were three lines moving at once through
different arches. To our surprise we were
inside an open court yard completely
enclosed by the palace. When our eyes
took time to wander during a momentary
delay, we gazed through the windows.
Uniformed guards and curious maids stood
between the curtains and quickly retreated
when we met their eyes. At the end of this
court yard, we proceeded up marble steps,
inside a glassed area and into the first
room. I was sure I was dreaming by this
time. The beautiful red plush carpets, gold
carved wood -work, pink and gold velvet
furniture, paintings of past generations of
royalty and the magnificence of the ceilings
and arches were truly the background for
royalty. After going solemnly through
three spacious and awe-inspiring rooms,
we came to the lawn and the Garden Party
areas. There, we stood and stared at the
rare grounds that comprised the lawn of
Buckingham Palace, just two hundred
acres. Special marques, set up for the
catering for the food were surrounded with
arbours and trellis work, among the
flowers, all with a look of having always
been there. Beautiful shrubbery, moss -soft
grass like green sponge led us everywhere.
We walked to the lake area where ducks,
geese and swans swam or rested on the
banks, oblivious to the fact that their life
May 1979, Village Squire 27