Krista and Mark Davies pose for a pic during their 2005 trip to Buckingham Palace for the Queen's annual garden party.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
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A Medicine Hatter is recalling the afternoon she was invited to tea at Buckingham Palace as celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign on the throne took place over the weekend.
The Queen’s annual garden party typically includes an array of guests from the diplomatic world, the arts, civil society and everyday citizens of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
Krista Davies was a newlywed in 2005 stationed in England with her husband Mark, a sergeant in the British Army, when the pair applied to attend and were forwarded an invitation.
“It’s a pretty fancy affair and I remember it fondly,” Krista told the News this week. Of course, with thousands of guests invited to each of several official garden parties each season, the event is hardly an intimate audience with the monarch.
But, Davies said the event, on the grounds of the palace in central London, the refreshments, and the opportunity provided cherished memories enough.
“We had decided to purchase the video afterwards, so as we were walking around we tried our hardest to get in front of the video camera,” she recalled, noting the couple’s absence from final footage.
The couple also had a strategy when it came to long crowded reception lines.
An official suggested they line up in the reception line for Prince Phillip – Mark was wearing a uniform of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, a unit connected to the Duke Of Edinburgh – as they might be singled out for a word.
“Mark said that it would probably be my only chance to meet Queen Elizabeth, so we ended up lining up in her lane,” said Krista. “I remember it well, I was kind of nervous, a small town girl from Medicine Hat, curtsying for the Queen of England as she walked by.
“It is such a great memory. I am grateful for the experience.”
