My day at the Palace

Our former chair Sue Nunn wrote this piece in 2024. We reproduce it here to give a flavour of Sue's modesty and sense of fun. She will be much missed by York Branch.

When my invitation to afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace arrived I thought it must be for someone else - I don’t feel I have done anything special to deserve recognition. It slowly sunk in that it was really for me and so I invited my lovely daughter Ruth to be my guest. The preparation was like a military operation - new dress, shoes, hair, nails and a hat - oh boy, what a hat!

We set off with a cloudy sky but no rain, enjoyed lunch at Bella Italia in Leicester Square and then a taxi to the Palace. There we joined the throng of beautifully dressed ladies and smartly attired men to listen to the military bands.

We were sitting under the trees to enjoy the music when it started to rain, just gently at first. But then it became heavier and everyone looked for shelter or put up their umbrellas, so that by the time the Royal party arrived the garden was a sea of umbrellas. We were told that Prince William headed the Royal party accompanied by Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, Zara and Mike Tindall and Peter Phillips. Apparently King Charles had been to Chelsea the day before and had felt too tired to attend! 

The rain became heavier and, although we were supposed to wait until the Royal party had left, hundreds of guests decided to call it a day and head for the taxi ranks. By that time Ruth and I were soaked to the skin but whilst we were awaiting a taxi we were lucky enough to see the Princesses leave the Palace, while the next car contained Zara & Mike Tindall – all of whom waved to the crowd of "drowned rats".

We finally got a taxi to King’s Cross where my beautiful hat was consigned to a rubbish bin as it was wet through and beyond redemption. All in all it was a lovely day and we met some very interesting people whilst sheltering in the tea tent.

Thank you everyone for your good wishes, it means a lot. xx