I had received my invitation from The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, inviting me to join His Majesty the King to view the Military procession and flypast on 5 May from a viewing platform on the Queen Victoria Memorial, outside of Buckingham Palace. I was very excited to be joining 27 veterans from WW2, senior politicians, our senior Royals, military leaders and a select group of around 20 uniformed youth organisation leaders in the royal box. 150 people. What an honour.
I was joined by an Amesbury Young Leader (Keira) for the exciting day out in London. Keira has recently been awarded a national leadership award, by the Girls Brigade CEO, so was a deserving and excellent travel companion for this experience.
After an early start, a short car journey, a train, a bus and a trot through security, we made it to Buckingham Palace. The Cenotaph looked splendid draped in enormous union flags, the Mall lined with gigantic flags and beautifully manicured trees… and apart from the Police and military folk, it was very quiet; The calm before an unforgettable day.
We took in the view of Buckingham Palace with the royal standard hoisted high. The royal box looked very small (but splendid) beneath the watchful gaze of Queen Victoria. There was red carpet, red walls, red chairs, luxury toilets, and an incredible snack fridge!
We quickly got talking to some veterans and their companions. One gentleman had a bruised face and explained how he had fallen the night before in his hotel but had refused a trip to hospital as he was finally meeting the King today. He, like everyone else we met and spoke with, was bursting with pride.
The view down the mall was incredible as we looked out over the assembled press tents, crowds of enthusiastic well-wishers, youth organisations, more and more Police, and of course, lots of military personnel moving into position ahead of the starting whistle. Keira and I saw a Girls’ Brigade group across to our right and started to exchange waves and good wishes with them. It was lovely!
As the people with VIP bracelets started to assemble ahead of the Royal family’s arrival, we volunteered to become ‘royal sweetie giver outers’ and offered mints to everyone as they entered the main seating area. This was great fun and gave us a good reason to chat and engage with people as they came in.
Finally, everyone was seated, The King & Queen, Prince & Princess of Wales and their children, led the royal party. The atmosphere was electric. The parade began and an hour later we had observed, literally over our Kings’ shoulder, an incredible uniformed parade, full of the best of British pageantry. The King asked us if we had enjoyed the parade!
We both loved the experience, as did everyone we spoke with around us. After the Royal Family retired to the balcony, for the flypast, we chatted animatedly with the RAF Cadet Warrant Officer who had started off the parade at Westminster (unbelievably she only lives a few miles from home), veterans, senior politicians and senior military leaders.
Now was the time to strike for some selfies. Straight in to thank The Prime Minister for tea last week and selfie 1 secured. The leader of His Majesties opposition followed, in the shape of Kemi Badenock, and then by far our favourite minister of the day – the minister for veterans and UK people (Alistair Carns) – an ex-Royal Marine Brigadier – who was tucking into the royal mints and actively engaged about Girls’ Brigade.
We moved to the front of the royal box and made claim to Princess Anne and Tim Laurence’s seats to watch the Police expertly fill up The Mall with onlookers. We had the best view of a flypast we are ever likely to experience. It was epic, and the nine ship Red Arrows, over four Typhoon aircraft, will be an image engraved in our memory forever.
Once the main crowds had cleared, we said our thank yous, left the high security area and met up with our Mums for a lovely lunch in Mayfair, before making the bus, train and car trip home. It was a full-on day, but I will be always grateful to Girls’ Brigade England & Wales for trusting us to represent them [and all our colleagues] in such a memorable way. The UK does events and processions like no one else in the world. Core memory locked in.
