Meeting the ‘Bond Girl’
The great day arrived and the weather didn’t disappoint. In true British style it was leaden grey with drizzle and freezing cold. Nonetheless, fully prepared with brollies and spare woollies (pressed into use) Lord and Lady Muck had a great time at Buckingham Palace on 30 May. The tea was great – it should be at a Royal Garden Party – and made all the more delicious by our sheltering in the tea-tent when the heavens opened – mercifully for only about five minutes.
Her Maj appeared on the steps of the Palace at 4pm sharp and the band broke into a rendition of the ‘Bond Girl’ theme. I can report that she was wearing a rose-coloured outfit, including hat. Lord and Lady Muck were in blue Armani suit and matching Versache tie, and floral silk dress with matching pink cardie and a fascinator to die for.
The garden is advertised as being ‘very much a spring garden’ in the blurb attendees are issued with. On the penultimate day of this Spring hardly anything was out, just the rhodedendrons and azalias. And the compost? The ‘tremendous 170 metre long herbaceous border’ certainly had signs of a good treatment. The bins, carefully hidden from view, have the grass clippings, prunings and leaves gathered in the garden, combined we were told, with ‘some of the horse manure from the adjacent Royal Mews’. No mention of kitchen waste from the Royal apartments though – but perhaps there isn’t any – the cakes were all gone by 5pm.
