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Susan's ScrapbookMemories of London
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Hi all..time to wrap things up!!! I have been living out of this old
suitcase tooo longg!!!
Last time we talked, I was on the train to London after a highly emotional
day at Althorp. I felt so totally drained emotionally...I looked at the
sites in London with new eyes now...it all had an entirely different meaning
....
We had left Northampton around 5 p.m, & were back in London just after 6
p.m. or so....then cabbed it back to our hotel & got settled in. We were
able to check our big suitcases at our hotel when we went to Paris..so we
collected those & headed up to our room. We retired early ..so exhausted
from our journey to Paris & Althorp....
The next morning we were back on our feet... decided to head over to
Buckingham Palace to see about getting tickets to go inside. The line-ups
for tickets & entry were horribly long whenever we had passsed by there in
our travels...but we were down to our last few days..it was now or never!!
They whisked us right thru the lineup & handed us the tickets..said we would
go into the palace in 10 minutes, so we should quickly go over to the
entrance!! That was a stroke of luck!!
So off we went to the palace!! There were two security check points, they
scan your bags just like at the airport, & I had to check my backpack &
camera, as we were not allowed to take them inside.
When looking at the front of the palace, we would have entered on the left
hand side, & toured all along the left side of the square & across the back.
The first part of the palace that enthralled me was seeing the grand
entrance , where the carriages would pull up & the royals would enter the
palace...I stood there & envisioned Diana coming out of the bridal coach
with her train billowing behind her....magical!!
I cannot describe the sheer granduer & opulance in the palace, everything is
so ornate, from the floors right up to the ceiling.....unbelievable...
We also walked thru the throne room, where the official pictures from the
wedding were taken...as you can imagine, I stood there a long
time..picturing the bridal party posing for all those historic
pictures...the room is not that large..I can't imagine all those people in
there!! It is also the room where Diana would practice her ballet during the
engagement period...now that was hard to imagine..I would have loved to see
her dancing thru the room...
We passed thru the room where Elton John sat & played the piano for the
jubilee concert, & also went thru the music room, where the boys baptisms
were held....so many grand rooms..oh how I wish those walls could talk!!
As we neared the end of the tour, I heard one of the guides mentioning
Diana, my radar went up & I quickly sashaed over to hear... she was telling
people that the flag would only be flying at the palace when the Queen is in
residence, but because of the uproar over that when Diana died, they now fly
the British flag there all the time, & replace it with the royal standard
when the Queen is in residence....Well, I already knew that, but it was
still nice to hear Diana's name mentioned at B.P.!
We ended our tour of the palace by exiting out the garden doors at the
rear....coming out onto those grey stone steps where the engagement pictures
were taken....wow...what an extrodinary feeling...I stood on those steps &
pretended I was Diana, with my "Prince" standing one step up behind me!! I
would have loved to take a pic of it...
We walked along the path & stopped at the stall to get our bags &
cameras..then we went further down the path to the gift shop...lots of
people buying in there....I bought a Diana postcard, the only offering to
her in the store....
Our ticket to the palace also included entry into the royal mews....so from
the gift shop we walked along the path thru the Queen's gardens...viewing
the tennis courts on the far end...I never did see where the pool is..must
be hidden away...
We exited the grounds of the palace at the very back end..then had to walk
all the way back up the side on the outside..to go into the royal mews!!
Pheww..lots of walking!!
The only interest I had in the mews was to see the glass coach... I had no
real interest in the other carriages & horsey things....so I admired it
while mom looked at everything else! We also saw the car that Sophie
travelled to her wedding in....no where near as magical to look at as
Diana's carriage....it is so surreal to see these things & imagine her
perched in it..so full of love & hope on her wedding day..of course, after
just coming from Althorp & seeing everything there, it made it all the more
heartbreaking to see....
We finished up at the mews..had a bite to eat..then caught the bus over to
"Madame Tussuads" wax works. We bought our ticket thru the tour bus,so we
walked right in... The place was crawling in people..didn't know who was wax
& who wasn't!!!Wow, such excellent likenesses!! Of course, I was looking for
Diana, & when I found her I could have cried..I found her likeness to be
similar to her..but of course not as alluring as the real thing...the way
the artist had done her eyes.. she looked so sad....the first thing I thought
when I saw her was "Diana would never wear a dress like that"...boy was I
wrong,as I later found out that it was a copy of a gown worn by her, made by
Catherine Walker!!!
They also had the royal families likeneses there..some were better than
others...people all pushing to have their pic with the queen..mom wanted me
to pose with Diana,I didn't like that idea..sorry...
So that about wraps up our last Wednesday there..only one more day to go
before we fly home.....
Don't want to leave!! Will write more soon...
~~Love Suzz~~
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