Friends of Buxton Station enjoy royal encounter at Buckingham Palace party

Secretary Sue Mellor and chairman Dave Carlisle were invited to a royal garden party on Wednesday, May 18, in recognition of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service which the group received last summer.

With the Queen currently keeping a light schedule, her youngest son Prince Edward, his wife Sophie, and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, were host for the day, and Dave and Sue were granted a special audience with the prince.

Sue said: “We had gone quite early, thinking it would be busy on such a sun-drenched afternoon. We had intended to go in through the quieter back gate off Hyde Park Corner but we got a bit lost and found ourselves entering the Palace at the main gate, just off the Mall.

“The result was that we were amongst the first on the palace lawns and soon were greeted by a dapper chap in a top hat.”

Dave added: “He chatted along with us for a few minutes and was impressed with our voluntary work, spotting our Queen’s Award button badges. He asked, ‘Would you like to meet the Earl of Wessex and tell him all about your award?’”

As it turned out, the man they were speaking to was the Lord Chamberlain of the Household, Andrew David Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere and the former director-general of MI5, who is now responsible for orchestrating the royal garden parties.

It dawned on Dave and Sue that they had been selected for a royal interview, a privilege granted to just a handful of partygoers picked from the more than 8,000 present.

They were given a quick guide to royal etiquette, with its polite nods and curtseys, no handshakes, and the proper address – ‘Your Royal Highness’ first, then ‘Sir’ – before they were given a guard of honour across the lawn.

Sue said: “We were introduced to the prince and he instantly put us both at ease with his warmth, reaching out to shake both our hands with a smile. Conversation flowed freely and he was genuinely interested in our conservation efforts to help our endangered Bilberry bumblebees. He asked us to keep up the fight.”

Dave said: “We were told not to expect more than a couple of minutes with the earl, but we were merrily chatting away for about five. He was also keen to learn about our other work to help local independent traders post-Covid lockdown and promote Buxton.

“Sadly, I forgot to mention our platinum jubilee project, but we did ask for our best wishes to go to his Mum and our hope that she is well soon and able to fully enjoy the planned celebrations.”

FoBS were supported in attending the occasion by Avanti West Coast, who provided free rail travel as part of their community rail development work, as well as Northern Trains Limited and High Peak & Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership, who helped with accommodation costs.

To find out more about the group’s work, go to https://bit.ly/3aoXAJ7.

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