Call me Ma'am from now on!

I have just realised that I haven't yet blogged about my trip around Buckingham Palace the other week, and my extensive gawp at Her Madge's diamonds.

The Hubby and I went round Buck House last year to see Kate Middleton's wedding dress, and much to our surprise (particularly The Hubby's) thoroughly enjoyed what was a very well organised and informative visit. Apparently it's 20 years since they started opening the place up to the public, which is amazing, and it is certainly a very polished and professional experience. This year, we got free re-entry for returning within the calendar year, which actually makes the entrance fee we paid last time (£18 each) seem pretty reasonable, as it's a good half day out.

You get to see all the State Rooms and oodles of just jaw dropping art including some by my favourite artist, Canaletto. I can stand and look at his work for hours and am constantly seeing something new in it. There are fifteen Canalettos on the Palace walls to see; I took ages! There is also a very good commentary through a little mobile unit with personal headphones so you can go at your own pace and no one rushes you so you have plenty of time.

This year, the special exhibition to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee is the vast collection of diamond jewellery, swords and trinkets owned by the Queen, including almost all the pieces made from the famous Cullinan diamond which was found in South Africa about 80 years ago and presented to the Royal Family as a gift. The original stone was huge, and there are now nine pieces of jewellery made from it, seven of which were on display at the Palace (the other two are part of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, with the main stone the centrepiece of the Imperial State Crown). I adore sparklies, and these were just magnificent, in particular a necklace made from some of the Cullinan stones and some enormous iridescent emeralds which shone like the green eyes of a cat. There was also a beautiful tiara originally owned by Queen Alexander in 1905 which looked like it ought to have belonged to the Snow Queen with its spiky tips and almost frosty gleam.  

We then stuffed ourselves with coffee and posh cakes in the cafe (amazing confections including little chocolate disks on top which had gold crowns painted on them in edible paint!) and then had a trip round the gift shop which has a large amount of surprisingly affordable stuff (magnets, stationery, tea towels etc) as well as the eye wateringly expensive porcelain and glassware. Despite having my eye on a replica tiara, I was persuaded instead to a replica pair of diamond and pearl earrings (fake diamonds, but real pearls) and treated by The Hubby, which was very nice and a surprise.

All in all, whether you are a royalist or not, this is a worthy day out and if you haven't been I'd recommend it. Wear good walking shoes and don't carry too much (security is phenomenal and airport style), and do use the audio guide, which is excellent. And like us, if you go in this year you will get free re-entry next year too.

So go along. And oh, call me ma'am from now on, will you?

Good old Liz!

London is gearing itself up for the Diamond Jubilee this weekend. Everywhere you look, there are flowers, bunting and Union Jacks. Even Victoria Station, normally so drab, dirty and boring, has spruced itself up to some degree with red, white and blue everywhere. There are little triangular union Jacks on bunting strung across the ceiling, massive ones stuck onto the floor and long skinny ones like mediaeval banners hanging from the rafters and down the walls. It all looks rather nice.

For all our cynicism, give us a genuine reason to celebrate something with national pride and us Brits go all out for it. And sixty years on the throne, governing this miserable little island which punches far above its weight due to it’s (possibly glorious, possibly reprehensible) empirical past is certainly an achievement to celebrate.

Although not avidly, I have always been a royalist to some degree and certainly I think it is better than the alternative. And good old Liz is probably the best of the bunch (although I always had a sneaking liking for Princess Margaret with her dissolute lifestyle – I bet she was quite a girl!). She has selflessly put her country first for virtually all her life, kept a fairly low key profile when not on duty and never done anything to embarrass her family. If only the same could be said of her offspring or her spouse.

Although of course, it is their eccentricities and the fact that they don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about them and their archaic set up which in many ways endears the Royals to us. Although other countries have royal families, and I’m sure if you live in those countries you will have your own views on their lives and usefulness, they all seem pretty tame compared to ours. The exception may be the Monegasque royals, who have that whiff of showbiz about them, a little scandal and some much larger than life characters (including Prince Ernst, who apparently has a penchant for peeing over the balcony onto the domestic staff below).

This weekend should certainly be a spectacle, although I have no intention of coming up to London myself; I’d much rather sit in my own lounge in comfort and watch it on the telly. There are events on each day, with probably the highlight being the river pageant on the Thames at 2.45pm on Monday. Apparently there will be around 1,000 boats in a three mile long flotilla with a brand new, sparkly gold barge in the middle with the Royal family on board. All the bridges are closed to traffic, and most of them to pedestrians with only a selected few allowed across by invitation. It should be quite a sight and is the largest river flotilla since Elizabeth I. On Tuesday, there is a parade through the City with the spectacular gold coach (with of course Liz and Phil the Greek inside) on display. No doubt Kate and Wills will be prominent and the following week the glossy magazines will have a field day with massive picture spreads.

I am, definitely, starting to feel the excitement, and am much more inclined to celebrate this event than the Olympics which frankly, are starting to bore me. I like the Queen, and last year we went round Buckingham Palace which was also a bit of a treat (The Hubby had been very cynical about that as a day out, but in the end thoroughly enjoyed it too). I also quite like Wills and Kate, who seem pretty normal and (as much as possible bearing in mind their situation) a grounded young couple. Shame about Charlie boy, but there you go – there’s always one!

So this weekend I will be getting out the Union Jack T-shirt and cheering Liz on with the rest of them. She won’t go on for ever, but while she is there, a steadying and classy act at the helm, we should be grateful and support her!