I saw the Firm

More friends I made in London

Tiny, tiny dot of yellow

First London schnauzer 

Harry, Kate and Camilla

Queen and Prince Phillip

Harry points, "Look there is Jane and Catherine!"

Fly past

Lady Luck was on our side today. Jane and I meet under the Churchill statue (how London is that!). Using my expert tour guide we go around the back and onto Horse Guards Parade. There are coppers, guardsmen, barricades, happy tourists and seasoned royal watchers everywhere. They are massing in one direction so we follow. Just as we get to the Mall a cheer goes up and it is the Queen and Prince Phillip in a carriage approaching the parade grounds for the Trooping of the Colour. Jane is taller and she gets a glimpse of the Queen in yellow. On tippy toes I can only see the heads of all the people and satisfy myself with watching the digital screens on the back of the cameras and getting glimpses of what is going on. Jane gets two more glimpses, I still can’t see her. Then she is out of the carriage and on to the podium. One tall man moves right, another left and then all is revealed, I see her! A yellow dot about 500m away but it is her. I came to London and saw the Queen.

To recuperate we leave the crowds and go to St James Park and have a cup tea and a sandwich. We end up on the veranda of the café and can see the trooping from here so with a small crowd, a few dogs and one copper we enjoy the spectacle of horses, precision and well dressed guards men. We also spot my first schnauzer in London enjoying the parade.

But that was not the end of the story the day just gets better and better. Time to move on, we go over to the Mall and get a new position. The crowd is only three deep and the moment we arrive the bands start their journey back up to Buckingham Palace. Trevor and his wife are our new crowd friend’s. Trevor is  taller and with his thick Welsh accent does a running commentary on what regiments are passing and what they do. He is very knowledgeable.  All very exciting.

Then you need to pinch yourself as an open carriage arrives and Harry, Kate and Camilla go past only 10 metres in front of us. They are laughing and enjoying themselves as the crowd cheers. Next up is Andrew, Eugenie and Beatrice the crowd is a bit quieter so we cheer for them and Jane waves at Andrew and he waves back, directly at Jane.  We then get so excited we forget to take photos.

Finally the Queen’s carriage arrives in all its polished splendor and adorned with gold. We have great views of the Queen and Prince Phillip enjoying their ride up the mall.

Following them is Charlie, Anne and William and some others on horseback. The royal’s have blue sashes. We only see the back of them so we farewell our new friends and make the dash up the Mall through the crowds. They are a bit faster than us and we only manage to see their backs. Anne is the easiest to identify.

When we get to the top of the Mall a copper tells us to go around to the right as he can only let people through one at a time. What a piece of luck we listened to him. So with a small crowd we climb though a barricade (very daring for Jane)  and cut up through the top of St James Park. The next obstacle is a fence and some kind lady without asking and on cue grabs Jane’s jeans and lifts her leg over the last bit of the fence and we are at the Australia gates. Via the backend of a Kangaroo and a sheep we have a good view of the balcony.

Now the amazing part happens. After a little while waiting the barricades at the Australia gates are lifted and we can get into the main area directly in front of Buckingham Palace. Unbelievably the area directly in front of the palace is empty and we run like crazy and make it to the fence. Then the Mall barricades are lifted and the rest of the crowd swarms in. We are at the front with a direct view of the balcony and the area below. How did this happen? The other people around us are also amazed. One lady is from Leeds and rings her husband to tell him where she is, he can’t understand what she is excitedly babbling about. The gun salutes go off and within a few minutes the Queen and Prince Phillip appear and the crowd roars. Then the rest of the firm appears on the balcony. Kate curtseys to the Queen and Camellia puts her hands out to feel the few spots of rain. With precision only the British can do the fly past arrives, helicopters, old Battle of Britain planes like Spitfires and Hurricanes, followed by modern planes including Typhoons. The royals and the crowd laugh and point and enjoy the spectacle. Finished of with the roulettes streaming red, white and blue smoke across the sky. The Royals depart and the crowd slowly disperses.

Can you sense that we where giggling like school girls all day who joined a flash mob and had to pinch ourselves to think this is real. It was the most amazing bit of pomp and ceremony to be part of. Thank you Queen for having your birthday today.