A bit of royal pomping...

'A bit of royal pomping' was how my daughter described Garter Day!

All the frantic camera clicking resulted in an epic fail on my part. I had taken my smaller Panasonic Lumix as it has a much longer telephoto lens than I have for my Nikon. But our position was a bit tricky, peering through a metal fence and with several other people's elbows and shoulders in front, and I had not taken into account the long shutter delay on my camera. People around did better with their iPhones..

In fact, I barely saw the Queen herself. She's tiny! The photo below comes courtesy of a lovely lady from Giggleswick, Sarah Williamson, who very kindly emailed it to me and agreed that I could show it here.

HM The Queen and HRH Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge
in the Garter Procession
(Photo © Sarah Williamson)

HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in a hurry to join the gathering.

The Duke of Cambridge in the returning carriage procession.
Sitting opposite him is Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

HM The Queen, with the Duchess of Cornwall and HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

These, and a few more photos, are also on my other blog, Seeking the Quiet Eye.

The Yeomen of the Guard

I had an unexpected birthday treat from my daughter. She managed to get tickets in the ballot to attend the Garter Day ceremony at Windsor Castle.

The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest British Order of Chivalry, founded by King Edward III in 1348. It consists of the Sovereign and twenty-five Knights, chosen personally by the Sovereign, who are people who have held public office, have contributed to public life or have served the Queen personally.

Every June they gather at Windsor Castle. Any new Knights take the oath and are invested with the insignia. (There was one this year, Air Chief Marshal The Lord Stirrup, who I think took the late Margaret Thatcher's place in the Order.)  They have lunch together in the State Apartments and then process down through the castle grounds to St George's Chapel for a service of dedication. Afterwards they are driven back up through the Castle in a carriage procession.

It is British ceremonial at its best - lots of troops and marching bands, beautiful horses, robes and uniforms, ancient traditions and lots of Royals, both major and minor.

We were allotted a position right up at the top of the Castle, on the edge of the Upper Ward beside the Round Tower, from where we could see all the comings and goings, and the start and end of the processionals. (If we'd been further down we might have seen the procession for longer as it wound its way down, but wherever you were placed you gained in some ways and lost in others.) As it was, there was a lot of good-natured waiting around (picnicking!) and a few moments of frantic camera clicking. But it was all very interesting and, since I love all the pomp and tradition, it was a great day out.

The gentlemen in my photo are members of The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, who formed part of the procession, seen marching through the arched entrance to the State Apartments.

Windsor Castle from the Air.
(Mark S Jobling, reproduced under Creative Commons license) 

The preacher

The congregation of St Mary's in Kettlewell (see also yesterday's post) seemed very engrossed in the sermon by the visiting preacher.  Or maybe they were all asleep....

Gloriana

An extra treat for me was seeing the Royal Barge, The Gloriana, moored in the Olympic Park. You will recall that it led out the huge flotilla of boats during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant, rowed by 18 oarsmen and women, including our former Olympic heroes Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The rowbarge also had a role in transporting the Olympic Flame up the River Thames.

The boat was privately commissioned by Lord Stirling, inspired by Canaletto's paintings of 18th century barges on the Thames, as a gift and tribute to the Queen. It will have an ongoing role in promoting the River Thames and our other inland waterways, in celebrations and to support charitable events, especially those involving young people.

It's really beautiful, and a tribute to British craftsmanship. Under the guidance of master boatbuilder Mark Edwards, over 60 craftsmen from all over the UK were involved in its construction. It is made in part from sweet chestnut timber from Prince Charles's estate.

The buildings in the background on my photo are the temporary Water Polo arena, with the Aquatics Centre behind it.

The Queen

I was unfortunately unable to spare the time from work today to stand for hours waiting for a quick glimpse of HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, as they visited the Pace technology factory in Salts Mill.  Plenty of people did, but maybe they were on holiday or perhaps more dedicated Royal fans than I.  I can, however, for the sake of recording history here, link you to the local paper's website.  See here for a few pictures.  Doesn't she look lovely?  She's an amazing woman and I have the deepest respect for her.  She had a packed diary today, visiting Leeds as well as Saltaire, but she seems to take things in her stride and looks quite relaxed in these photos, I think.  I hope she enjoyed her lunch and the quick glimpse of Saltaire she would have seen as the car whisked her down Victoria Road.

Diamond girls

The Queen and I have little in common except a name - Elizabeth - and a diamond celebration this year. A lot of little girls born in 1952 were called Elizabeth, I think.  (It's my second name.)  I was almost a year old on Coronation Day (2 June 1953) and, judging by the photo, I had more of a capacity then to get into flag-waving mood than I do now!  I am trying... wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a red jacket today, and I spent yesterday afternoon watching the Jubilee Pageant on the Thames in London, on TV.  Such a pity about the Great British weather, for everyone involved.  I would have felt a lot happier had the Queen sat down on her 'throne' on the barge, allowed someone to tuck her up in a blanket and wrapped her hands round a mug of hot tea, while she watched it all.  As it was, she stood and looked chilled the whole time, remarkable for a lady of 86 but, I felt, rather above and beyond the call of duty.  But then, she's made of sterner stuff than I... It was so cold and wet here in Yorkshire that I'm ashamed to say I had the gas fire on!