The Day I saw the Queen and The England Rugby Team!
Evie Stevenson
It was chaos in our house as usual. We were all desperately trying the get ready. It was October 04, and my Dad was on the Queen's honours list for a CBE. I was wearing the smartest clothes I had - a nice blouse and skirt, and a furry beige coat. My mother and father were both frantic - but for different reasons.
Congestion charge had just arrived in London. We lived in Chiswick, West London at the time, so were out of the radius of it. Mum was afraid that she was going to forget the congestion charge and be fined £80. Dad was busy trying to make himself look immaculate, and had taken hours polishing up his shoes for the big day. He was so paranoid about scuffing his shoes on the pedals as we drove to Buckingham Palace, that he decided he was going to wear his slippers for the journey, and park near the venue and put on his beautifully polished shoes. However, his theory didn't quite go to plan. . ..
We were on the way to Buckingham Palace, with Dad driving with his slippers, Mum trying to pay the congestion charge on her mobile phone and me and my younger sister Isla sitting in the back. My other sister, Lorna, had been left at home with our Auntie Sandra because she was only six at the time. As we drew towards the palace, the police saw the pass on our windscreen and hailed us in, with Dad still in his slippers. We went through the magnificent golden front gates, where members of the public were looking through longingly. We all had to get out of the car so that the police could check for bombs, and such things. Dad was looking embarrassed, still wearing his slippers. When they had fully checked the car, we were allowed to go to a private place to park the car, and where Dad could put his shoes on.
We had all however, noticed a few familiar faces that we had all seen on the television very recently. It was the England Rugby team, who had just won the Rugby World Cup. We had all been watching the World Cup avidly. There were the likes of Johnny Wilkinson and Matt Dawson getting out of their sleek Porsches and shiny Mercedes.
When we finally got into the Palace, we put our coats away then went up the grand staircase. There it was divided into two. One sign said 'Guests of Honoured' and the other said 'Honoured Guests'. Mum, Isla and I went up the Guests staircase; Dad went up the honoured staircase. We went through a corridor with lots of portraits of royal family member, such as Queen Victoria with her many children. We finally arrived at our destination, which was the ballroom. We were soon ushered to our places by a man in an RAF uniform.
It took forever for a man to stand up and tell all of us all the general information, such as to stand up when the Queen arrived, and when the ceremony would finish. Then around six men in crazy red outfits came out. They looked like the Tower of London's Beefeaters. They did an odd dance around the Queen's throne, and then stood still. It was then that I first saw the Queen.
She came out in a plain pink dress, with a handbag which seemed to have nothing in it. We all stood up as she arrived. The honours were split into two groups - one for the top five honours, and one for all the other honours. My Dad was in the top five, with all the soon-to-be Doctors and Sirs. When he came out, he shook the Queen's hand, she chatted to him, and he then stepped backwards and bowed - I felt really proud. That really was the climax of the whole thing. After that it was quite boring - apart from when the England rugby team came out in threes to collect their OBEs and MBEs.
When it finally ended, we went outside, where we got our photos taken, and where the interviews with the England rugby team took place. Then we got in the car and drove round to where the party was being held, at the Lanesborough Hotel in Hyde Park Corner.
When we got there, we were greeted by about 20 people - including our younger sister. Then we went into the extremely posh restaurant - where we had a total of five courses. When I thought it surely must be over, an enormous chocolate cake arrived. It read 'CBH CBE', with the CBH being my Dad's initials. I knew that I just had room for a bit more food. It was absolutely delicious.
We then left the hotel to head home, at around nine o'clock, all feeling full to bursting. It certainly had been an eventful day!
