Off to London to visit the Queen

Well, no. The Queen wasn’t there. She was in Scotland, enjoying her summer break. That gave us a chance, however, to have a look at where she lives and works when she’s in London and we did just that.

A word of explanation is in order. I’m a socialist who just happens to be very fond of Her Majesty. We have a history together. I come from a family that takes its Loyalist ancestry seriously and when I was growing up, the Royal Family was as familiar to us as if they were relatives.

One of my favourite childhood books was called The Little Princesses. It was written by Marion Crawford – Crawfie – who was Nanny to Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.

Crawfie probably shouldn’t have written that book. She got in big trouble with the Queen Mother for breaking the confidentiality agreement. It's a complicated story. I loved the book though and I knew nothing about the controversy.

Do you remember cut-outs? Paper dolls? I had cut-outs of the princesses and spent many happy hours dressing them up and escorting them to their numerous official engagements although I’m sure I also allowed them to have some fun.

My sentimental connections continue to this day. In my china cabinet, there’s a souvenir cup and saucer from the Coronation in 1953. Right beside it, there’s a small souvenir glass, same event.

My late mother revered the Queen and I can only imagine how she would feel if she could see this photo. That’s my husband, Dan, who is benefitting from that lovely Queenly smile. And though I was right beside him, I had stepped back a bit by the time the photo was taken. (That's my head. Not the one with straight-hair. The one with platinum curls.) But I can tell you this: she smiled and nodded at me. And I smiled at her.

So now that you know what was inspiring me, I’ll come back tomorrow and tell you about my visit to Buckingham Palace.

Update: The two subsequent posts about the visit to Buckingham Palace are here and here.