Mum Pat – the Royalist
My mother was a fervent Royalist all through her life, three years older than our present Queen, of that great wartime generation, and she would have been deeply moved by the death of Prince Philip. Here is her account of a Royal occasion from a diary she kept in 1935, aged 11. Please excuse her spelling and punctuation – it did get better! David Gardner
May 6 Monday 1935 Bank Holiday in Scotland
The King & Queen’s Jubillee… Silver Jubilee
This is the day of the year, the day, to be remembered through out all the English History that is to come. Well, let us begin. After I have got up, & had breakfast, I start out for Joans’ at 7.o.clock! Arrive there, get ready to start for Q. Victoria St. Where there is an office window where everything can be seen; throug crowds we pass till we arrive at our destination. We have to wait over 3 hours before the procession comes from the St Pauls Cathedral. There is a raidio which gives us the service from beggining to end. At last the procession arrives, first, soldiers mouted, followed by the King & Queen. The latter dressed in pink looks wonderful, & so does the King. The Prince of Waels, the Duke & Duchess of York & Duke & Duchess of Kent all look fine. Princess Margaret Rose is so sweet, & so is Princess Elisabeth. Marina is holding on to her hat, in case it blows away. Every thing is so prettey & Historicle, after wards, we have a “snacky” lunch, & home againg. I play with J. for the rest of the afternoon, & am taken home in the car to the house, then to the Lodge, where we play cards, until we go to Hampstead Heath where we see search lights, & a huge bonfire. On the way back, we notice a beach tree all lit up with lights. The Kings’ speech is wonderful, & I am so proud to be a subject of King George the 5th. God Save our Gracious King
