Friday 1 June 2012

Meeting The Queen... (not me, my grandparents)



My grandparents, George and Mary, were lucky enough to meet the Queen a couple of times.

Here are a few pictures from my grandmother's album filled with photos, invitations and menus, etc from those occasions. This is when they met the Queen at, I believe, Government House in 1957.




They were lucky enough to be invited to a Dinner in 1957 and this is their invitation. Many others were also invited of course, but my grandmother was always so proud to have attended.




Here they are dressed in all their finery before leaving home to go onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia when The Queen visited in 1957.


Below is a photo of the menu from the Luncheon where The Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were Guests of Honour in 1949.

The long white glove was the one she wore to shake hands with The Queen in 1957. Naturally, I've tried it on...


I saw the Queen once, when she visited Jersey about twenty years ago. I was with my grandmother then and other family members, but on this occasion we sat on a low granite wall by the road and waited for her car to drive past. The Queen waved and we were all delighted.

27 comments:

Amanda said...

How lovely - thanks for sharing, Debs x

Unknown said...

Lovely memories, Debs. Your Grandparents must have been thrilled.

D.J. Kirkby said...

I love it when you put up posts like this! I would very much like to meet Royal family....

Jenny Woolf said...

Your grandparents must have been rather important people! i don't believe I have ever seen the Queen in person.

Faye said...

We can say we know someone who had grands who got invitied to royal dos. Now that's fun. Hope you inherit some of this great memorabilia when the time comes.

Unknown said...

How magic...love the saved glove. It's a real gift to have such a personal glimpse into the past!
lx

Rosemary Gemmell said...

How lovely to have those mementos, Debs. And, again, what a glamorous family you belong to!

Teresa Ashby said...

This is lovely, Debs - gorgeous photos and that glove, wow! x

B.E. Sanderson said...

That's so cool. I love that your mom kept the glove. Thanks for sharing these wonderful memories, Debs. =o)

Talli Roland said...

Wow, how fantastic! And how wonderful to have all these keepsakes, Debs.

Anna Scott Graham said...

What a thrill for your family! I saw the Queen twice; once in Harrogate, and my five year old even gave her a bunch of flowers. Then again in Leeds; she was passing through Headingley, on her way to Harewood House to see her cousin. That was just a glimpse of her in a rather lovely car, but still amazing all the same!

Rebecca Leith said...

What a lovely post. And as others have said, those gloves!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Amanda, Carole Anne & Denyse - Thank you.

Jennie - my grandfather was a Senator in the States at the time, which I presume is why they would have been invited.

Faye - thanks. The time came 20 years ago and I was lucky enough to have these lovely momentos handed to me.

liz - I especially love the glove too. To think both my grandmother wore it and that she shook hands with The Queen wearing it is lovely.

rosemary - they had a far more glamourous lifestyle back then.

Teresa, BE & Talli - thank you.

Anna - how lovely that your daughter was able to give The Queen a bunch of flowers.

Rebecca - thank you.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for joining me, Debs. Wonder if your family and my husband's family have a relation in common somewhere in the past. :0)

Susie Vereker said...

How lovely that your grandmother kept all those things so carefully. Fascinating.

Jennifer Joyce said...

Another great post about your glamorous family. You could write a book about them!

annieye said...

How lovely for your grandparents and what wonderful memorabilia to have. I remember the Queen coming to our town when I was about six or seven. I can vaguely remember waving a flag and seeing her pass in a big black car. It must have been about 1963, I think.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Carole Anne - Probably. My husband's father's family originates from Scotland.

Susie - thank you, I'm thrilled to have something that meant so much to her.

Mama J - they do appear in some form or other in the book that follows the one I'm editing now.

annieye - how lovely. I think The Queen probably doesn't realize how many memories she's left with people of all ages.

Liane Spicer said...

How lovely, and wonderful of you to share! I enjoy insights into a more gracious time.

The handwriting on the invitation gave me a deja vu moment there because my aunt and great-grandmother wrote like that - the loops, the slant... So very elegant.

I have a vague recollection of the queen visiting Trinidad back in the sixties. I was in primary school and the children had to line the route and wave as her car passed. Can't recall seeing a thing, though. My mother also remembers something similar from her childhood when Empire Day was celebrated here.

Diane Fordham said...

Awesome - thanks for sharing x

Anonymous said...

Nice of you to share this memorabilia! It's nice when families keep old souvenirs of lives gone by.

Biddy Fraser said...

Very impressive - I'd love to meet the Queen myself! Don't think it's very likely, but I can dream!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

liane - I loved that writing too, it smacks of a different era somehow.

diane - thank you.

ali - thank you. I'm thrilled to be able to share these items.

biddy - thank you. I'd love to meet her too, but doubt it will ever happen.

Chris Stovell said...

I love these glamorous snapshots of your family's life, Debs!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

chris - thank you.

Suzy Henderson said...

What fabulous memories. I loved reading your post - your grandparents looked beautiful and what a wonderful memento you have -the gloves & the menu.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Suzy - thank you for your lovely comment. My grandparents were fascinating people and I wish I knew them now that I'm old enough to appreciate them properly.