SUMMER VISIT 2008 – KENSINGTON PALACE
Wednesday 25 June
The visit took place, as planned, and 45 Faradians and friends all turned up for a very good visit. Most of the party arrived to enjoy the coffee and biscuits laid out in the magnificent Orangery. This was built for Queen Anne in 1704-5 by Sir John Vanbrugh. Unfortunately Sue Higham's party got delayed by a problem on the train, but she made it in time for the tour (although she missed her coffee!).
We started the tour with a trip downstairs where we saw the rooms set out for "The Last Debutantes". Here we saw newsreels, dresses, radios and so on from 1958, the last year that The Deb's were presented to the Queen. Most of us felt at home with the exhibits as it was part of our lives (not the Deb bit!) One lady had kept all her invitations for her season - they covered a large wall!
From here we were given an Audio Guide so that we could go round the rest of the Palace. We saw 7 dresses that had been worn by Princess Diana which had never been displayed before. There were exhibits charting the development of her style. We saw the 18 State Apartments that were added by William and Mary. We saw the room where Princess Victoria was born and the room she occupied prior to leaving for Buckinham Palace when she became Queen. It was quite a rabbit warren of a building and we seemed to be going upstairs and downstairs quite a bit. Eventually we ended the tour in the shop (where else?!) so that the ladies could all buy some goodies to act as a reminder of the visit.
After this it was back to the Orangery for a very nice cold salmon salad followed by a really excellent lemon tart. Most of us purchased a bottle of wine to accompany the meal. Coffee was provided to close the event.
It was a really excellent day out and Des Lewin congratulated our President, Chris Parker, for his choice and for the arrangements he made. The day went exactly to plan and the weather was really kind to us.
Well done Chris!
| A PICTURE OF KENSINGTON PALACE
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