Have a happy day, Ma’am (again)!

We’ve just returned home from greeting the Queen as she arrived at Hitchin station for her Diamond Jubilee tour of North Hertfordshire.  The royal Bentley was parked outside the station with the chauffeur giving a last-minute polish to the windscreen and there was a collection of ladies wearing hats, including the Mayor of Hitchin  (dress a bit crumpled), someone else in a( badly hemmed) powder blue outfit whose hat was just the wrong shade of blue, and worst of all the Lord Lieutenant, the Countess of Verulam, in a coat dress that husband described as something out of a 1940s newsreel.  Her hat was lilac and too large for a tall lady and did not match the dress at all.  Unfortunately when HM arrived she was wearing a lilac coat and hat.  (Off to the tower with the Countess!)  The Queen’s lady-in-waiting, wearing a smart navy outfit and hat with red trim, reminded me of Christina Osborne, as in her avatar photo.  We thought HM looked a little frail, but she smiled happily at the crowd.  She is quite small, the same height as me I believe, and 5ft 3in is a very good height but easily hidden by inconsiderate taller people.

I was reminded of Christina’s comment about the punishing schedule the Queen has had recently and I really would not want to be in her shoes (or beautiful outfits).  Anyway I was glad to have seen her – and I hope she felt the same.  And, as husband said, I had fun criticising ladies’ outfits.

22 thoughts on “Have a happy day, Ma’am (again)!”

  2. No flag of whatever size, I’m afraid – just a friendly wave. HM and I haven’t seen each other since I was a child, but I recognised her.

  4. Always good to catch up with old friends, Sheona. 😉

    I see what you mean about the Countess of Verulam; that hat looked terrible. I went to her husband’s 21st birthday party at Gorhambury.

  7. Araminta :

    I see what you mean about the Countess of Verulam; that hat looked terrible. I went to her husband’s 21st birthday party at Gorhambury.

    Aye weel, Ara. If Google is to be believed, said 21st birthday party would have been a good four years before he married the former Dione Angela Smith. So he was still footloose and fancy free and it could have been you?

    Had it been, I am, of course, sure that the hat would have suited you far better. Smiley thing.

  8. Fair crack about the hats! Quite ghastly.
    Always amazes me how few people can actually match colours and, even worse, do not know they can’t!
    Over the decades I have decided it is an inherent ability rather than a learned skill. Monochromatic colour schemes have to be one of the trickiest to get right.
    People rarely can analyse how much of other colour varyingly goes into making a specific depth of hue. Blues, greens and mauves are all hideous composites of ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ dyes. Some people, just a few can give it a quick gander and just know, the rest nowadays resort to electronics to tell them. Unfortunately the kind of meters that would tell you this on a read out are unavailable in dress departments! The print trade relies on them pretty extensively these days.
    A lot of it is to do with constituent dyes ability to absorb light, hence the old gag of taking a product to the shop window to see the ‘real’ colour.
    When that poor lady bought the blue hat it probably looked just fine in the department store! (And I’ll bet my bottom dollar the lighting was yellow biased not white wherever she bought it!)

    I must say I think HMQ is overdoing it. It will be a miracle if she and Prince Philip survive the whole summer.
    I don’t remember the Queen Mother ever pushing herself so much but then she wasn’t Queen at that age.
    Sounds like a good day out.

  9. Hello, Mr Mackie.

    At the time, I didn’t stand a chance with John, he was interested in my devastatingly beautiful friend!. That didn’t last long, she ditched him for another aristocrat, who unfortunately was married, and in the end she settled for an architect.

    I think she had a lucky escape, actually.

  10. Thank you for your help, Soutie. I realise male charioteers may not be interested, but life is not all about football. I will be supporting England tomorrow btw.

    Christina, I suspect the blue outfit and the blue hat were bought separately. Some people don’t realise even blues can shout at each other.

  11. Araminta :

    Always good to catch up with old friends, Sheona. ;)

    I see what you mean about the Countess of Verulam; that hat looked terrible. I went to her husband’s 21st birthday party at Gorhambury.

    Arrers, this is serious Court and Social stuff. Pray tell us more.

  12. sheona :

    Thank you for your help, Soutie. I realise male charioteers may not be interested, but life is not all about football. I will be supporting England tomorrow btw.

    Christina, I suspect the blue outfit and the blue hat were bought separately. Some people don’t realise even blues can shout at each other.

    It happens a lot at Chelsea allegedly.

  13. I used to live in St. Albans, Janus, in St Michael’s. A fair number of the properties were part of the Gorhambury estate. I used to ride there, with my friend. It was quite an interesting social circle, which included John Grimston, and his family, the Runcies, when he was Bishop of St.Albans, and the somewhat infamous Charlie Brocket!

  14. Araminta, is that the Charlie Brocket of Brocket Hall, classic cars, insurance scam notoriety? I do think the Earl of V got it wrong. You would never carry a brown bag with that outfit, Ara.

    Janus, I got your remark about Chelsea. There’s a photo of John Terry in a rather fetching turquoise top in today’s DT online.

  16. Arrers, I also lived in St Albans (superior to ‘Itchin ‘Erts in my opinion) in 1969/70; it didn’t run to St Michael’s however. 🙂

  17. My parents lived in Hertfordshire, various places, but at the time you were there, I was at university, but did return from time to time. Did you ever visit the Six Bells in Fishpool Street, Janus. or the Rose and Crown?

    I used to live just down the road from the Lower Red Lion.

  20. Yes, Hitchin is a bit 19th century industrial in parts, Janus, except for the Market Square and small area around it like Sun Street. It has had quite a lot of development as a London dormitory town, but I’m quite glad I don’t actually live there, though the shopping’s not bad.

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