The Queen and I

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

We were up early this morning and had our coffee as Don watched the news.  Lo and behold, today is the day the Queen will ride her royal carriage from Buckingham Castle to Parliament to open the new session and read her instructions for this branch of the government,

So, we jumped into our clothes, packed our sandwich and fruit, and away we went to the Royal Mall to watch the Queen's procession.  We exited the tube just in the nick of time to see the entourage pass through the gates to the Parliament Building. 

 We hustled down to St. James Park where we were able to enjoy the 21 cannon salute by the Cavaliers.  There were at least 100 troops on horseback, all decked out in their fancy jackets and the cannon shot off the salute with big puffs of smoke each time.  By the time they were finished the whole park was hazy with cannon smoke.  We could actually see the flash from each cannon as the shot was fired.

We stopped to ask some advice from one of the friendly policemen, Constable Buckley by name, and he recommended that we reposition over on the other side of the mall for the return procession.  So we made our way across the Mall and up to the barrier skirting the route.  The wait was not hard because the soldiers guarding the route, all in red jackets and those big bearskin helmets, had a routine so that each pair of soldiers took a march along the road like a sentry, and then returned to their spot along the Mall.

After some time we began to see a cadre of soldiers in their red  uniforms, marching down the Mall.  Several ranks of cavalrymen passed by, and the soldiers long the route all presented arms and stood at attention.  Next came the Queen's carriage, and she waved at us as she passed by.  So did Prince Phillip.  

Then several more carriages passed with lots of fancy people who we couldn't name and at the tail end of the parade we saw Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles pass by.  Next came limousines, one after the other, filled with who knows who, and this was followed with many more splendid cavalrymen marching along on their matched horses.

The caravan went round the statue and dropped off their passengers and then ade one more circle before retiring to their garages.  The troop of soldiers then guarding the route had a formal ceremony to form into ranks and retire to wherever they get to go.  And it was all over.

We sat in the park, watching schoolchildren sing and play games, while we air our lunch.  Once again, despite predictions of rain, it was sunny and warm.

After lunch we strolled out of the park and decided to stop at the Churchill War Rooms, just across the street from the park.  This museum was far more extensive than we imagined and we spent at least 3 hours exploring the exhibits which covered, first the war years, and then his whole life from babyhood through death.

Don was especially interested in this exhibit as he has been reading the Second World War books written by Churchill.   The museum is situated in the actual site of the WWII headquarters, underground and protected by yards of concrete and steel.

When we finally finished with the museum we were exhausted, so we hopped on the tube and DLR and made our way back to 27 Ropemaker's Field.