Queen Of Summer

There's a mixture of work and celebrations for Her Majesty over the coming months…

- Susan Watson

Meet And Greet – Glorious Garden Parties

Summer signals the time for one of our best-loved royal traditions – the royal garden parties! With three taking place in the gardens of Buckingham Palace each summer and an additional one at The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland, the Queen welcomes more than 30,000 guests each year.

They’re held as an opportunity for the Queen, and other members of the royal family, to recognise and reward public service and meet a variety of people from the Civil Service, the Armed Forces, charities and societies.

It’s a tradition that’s been going on in the 1860s when Queen Victoria was the first royal to host such an event.

A quintessentially British event, guests clad in their finery enjoy endless cups of tea, cucumber sandwiches (with the crusts cut off, of course!), slices of Victoria sponge and strawberries with lashings of cream.

Serving so many guests each year is no mean feat – for each party over 400 members of staff serve roughly 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 cakes!

Hats and Horses!

One of the Queen’s greatest passions in life is her horses, so Royal Ascot must truly be one of the biggest highlights of her year.