O... M... F... G...
If I thought Mr Knedlik had outdone himself in pulling off previous regimental dinners at the Houses of Parliament and Tower of London last year, his surprise production of two tickets to the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace this July had me proven well and truly wrong here.
A traditionalist Mr K deemed all my current dresses too "young" / "trendy" / "far above the knee" for the occasion, so once again I was reluctantly dispatched to purchase something more duly "respectable". Well, what could be more respectable than traditional mothers' choice Marks & Spencers, time-honoured pinnacle of English middle-class propriety...? Luckily I bought from the Per Una range, which even at M&S is more fashionable than frumpy – I for one was just relieved to find I’m still size 8 (or 34 in European) despite all the frantic food blogging of late, a feat only achieved by compensating increased calorie intake with epic 100-length swims most days per week. Mr K by comparison had it easy – he just had to don his uniform as usual...
Strictly speaking, I wasn’t supposed to take photos of any of the Buckingham Palace Gardens / grounds / tea tents etc due to “security reasons”, but of course I couldn’t resist the opportunity to sneak a few pics of the oh-so-traditional English cucumber sandwiches (crustless of course), diddy slices of Victoria sponge, and mini scones with jam etc etc.
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I read somewhere that Buckingham Palace allows 14 ½ pieces of sandwich / cake per person (and with 8,000 officially in attendance, that is quite a lot of cake), but couldn’t quite believe this fact until I saw some true piggies at the trough piling their plates rather nauseatingly high...
Of course the one photo shot I could not get away with was that of Her Madge herself (with Prince Philip and Prince Charles both in tow), who at one point was standing just arm’s length away from Mr K and I - she’s actually surprisingly small in real life.
So all in all, what with uncharacteristically British hot summer’s day (unlike last year, apparently) / close encounters with royalty / beautiful palace grounds / chance to don my glad-rags and size up other ladies’ present weird and wonderful appareil / yummy tea etc etc, you’d probably think this truly once-in-a-lifetime day could really not be topped here.
Except that Mr K - clearly determined to outdo himself once and for all here - only went and surprise proposed by Buckingham Palace lake. In uniform. With a diamond / purple sapphire ring. And (once had gotten over initial cardiac / respiratory arrest that is), I of course said yes... ;-))
no way!!! are you serious???? CONGRATULATIONS!!! : ) xoxo Lu.
ReplyDeleteLooks utterly wonderful. Hope you are both very happy together!
ReplyDeleteThe father of the (prospective) bride xxxxx
Oh, cogratulations! You don't know me, but I'm your regular czech reader. Well, I'm looking forward to reading about your menu on your wedding etc. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks very much - won't be for a long time yet though! :h
ReplyDeleteDang girlfriend, I was going to tease you that it sounds like you married well, but I understand from the comments you're engaged. Tickets to Buckingham Palace and a new dress to boot and he in a handsome uniform? Tis truly lovely! What a fun adventure!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen - he popped the question while we were there!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations from yet another friendly anonymous Czech reader. :)
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