| PHOTO GALLERY: Tea & Sandwiches For The Royals At The Palace |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | ||||||||||
| Wednesday, 12 July 2006 | ||||||||||
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Location: Buckingham Palace, London Date: Tuesday 11th July 2006  The most senior members of the Royal Family were out in force for another of the regular Summer garden parties held in the sun-ridden gardens of Buckingham Palace.Around 8,000 people are invited by the Lord Chamberlain to attend the garden parties in recognition of their contribution to public life. These include figures from the church, charities and public services, such as health and education, the Palace always making sure to invite what they refer to as a "cross-section of society". However, there was great controversy in Britain when, only days after the 7/7 bombings of the London transport system in July 2005, it was revealed that the wife of one of the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people and injured hundreds more in the atrocity had been a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden.  Charles and Camilla stand to attention for the National Anthem.The Duchess of Cornwall attended her first official Royal garden party in July 2005. So nervous was she at her debut, Camilla unwittingly shook the hands of the same couple twice. Although Charles, by now Prince of Wales (and therefore of senior status than his sons today), had attended several Buckingham Palace garden parties by the time he was 21, Princes William and Harry are yet to appear, although William did join Charles and Camilla for such an event in the grounds of Holyrood House.  The
gates open for guests at 3.15pm, but the Royals only appear at 4pm,
following which they split up so as to mingle with guests and meet as
many people as possible.However, the royals latterly retreat to a tent, in which a select group of guests are invited to join the Queen for tea. Gentlemen ushers undertake the job of separating the crowds, forming weaving lanes so as to allow the royals through. In times gone by there used to be a somewhat farcical sight of guests attempting to position themselves into the lane they preferred, so as to be close to the two most popular members of the family: the Queen and Diana.  All royal events are planned right down to the minute and Buckingham Palace garden parties are no different.Having chatted with a selection of onlookers, the Queen and Prince Philip always reach the end of their lanes at the very same time, following which they retreat to a tent, where they can finally relax and enjoy tea out of sight of the media and members of the public. Even inside the royal tent there is a certain degree of segregation: on one half are diplomats and their foreign dignitary guests, on the other members of the Royal Family, Government officials (including members of the Cabinet) and their guests.  The Royals always raid their wardrobes to look their best at Palace garden parties and guests are expected to do the same.However, there have been a few 'rebels' who've ignored the strict dress code. Despite having received an invite from the Palace which read: "Ladies: Day Dress with hat or uniform (no medals or Chains of Office). Trousers should not be worn", in June 1998 a senior member of the British Government, Clare Short MP (no monarchist), was jeered by onlookers when she appeared without a hat. The woman installed as International Development Minister following Tony Blair's election landslide in 1997 was subjected to shouts of "hat!" and "improperly dressed" by the Queen's guests. Some years earlier, though, it was a member of the Royal Family who raised eyebrows. On what was a boiling hot Summer's day, Diana — still very much in line to be future Queen — completely ignored the sometimes stuffy protocol and appeared bare-legged at one of her mother-in-law's official garden parties. In 2001 a guest was embarrassed to discover that she'd become so relaxed as she enjoyed the sun on the Palace lawns that she completely forgot to put her shoes back on and duly found herself greeting the Queen whilst holding her footwear in her other hand. Explained 54-year-old Rona Lusty: "I'd taken them off because my feet were aching. Fortunately, the Queen ignored it."  But it could have been much worse!Although a great honour to be invited to such a gathering, in truth royal garden parties are rightly rather staid affairs. Perhaps determined to shake-up the event, a teenager decided to do an imprompu streak across the carefully manicured Palace lawns in June 2003. Desperate to save the blushes of the Queen, a Yeoman of the Guard rugby tackled 17-year old Barney Keen, who attended the event as a guest of his hugely apologetic and embarrassed teacher father. Yeoman Guard Captain Ray Duffy explained: "At that time the Queen was coming up the middle aisle. So, had he turned right instead of left, he would probably have run towards her. I am not sure how much she saw of it all."  Although members of the public can take refuge in non-royal tents, the crowds are so large that it's inevitable that many suffer the effects of the unreliable British weather.A guest of one Palace garden party in the early 1990s was clearly unimpressed by the occasion, complaining: "We just milled around on the wet muddy lawn. It was a scrum, with no escape because the car had a fixed time to come back." "There was no suggestion we might go inside the palace to get out of the rain: you were a trespasser; never for a moment at home. It was not an uplifting experience." In July 1996 two female, who were standing just yards from the Queen, were taken to hospital after being hit by what was described by shocked guests as an "absolutely horrendous" lightening strike in the Palace gardens. However, all guests are treated to the best service they could ever hope to enjoy, the kitchens and staff at Buckingham Palace working around the clock to make the garden parties go as smooth as possible. The organisational skills needed for each garden party is astonishing, royal chefs preparing approximately 20,000 sandwiches and staff pouring around 27,000 cups of tea. Spare a thought for those who work behind the scenes, for it is they who are left with a mammoth 38,000 items, from plates and cutlery to cups and saucers, to be washed....all the time aware that, within days, there'll be yet another garden party and another 8,000 guests trundling through the Palace gates. Comment on this article
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