The summer party season got into full swing yesterday as the Queen threw her first garden party of the year at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty welcomed some 8,000 people from myriad different professions on the lawn of her London home.
Prince Philip was also on hand, along with Prince Charles and the Duke of York, as the royals showed their gratitude to people from all walks of life who had given years of their lives to the service professions.
Of course, there were also a number of foreign diplomats among the gathering. One of the most colourful was Dr Kwaw Win, Ambassador for Myanmar, who was dressed in a traditional Burmese outfit. His black jacket and sarong was complemented with a yellow silk headdress called a Gaung Baung.
"Oh, traditional pageantry, quite unparalleled!" said the ambassador. "I'm accredited to three other countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) but no other country could stage a garden party of this magnitude."
And the huge crowd did make for quite a spectacle, as the guests entered the Palace gardens and were greeted by two military bands and a 400-foot tea tent. After the Queen had made her entrance, to the sound of the national anthem, the revellers settled into an afternoon of mingling and munching. The 400 waiting staff had their work cut out to distribute the nibbles which had been prepared. In all there were 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 glasses of iced coffee, 20,000 slices of cake and 20,000 pastries.
It was a busy day for the Royal Family, as they also attended a service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent were joined by 900 veterans for the ceremony.
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