My recollections of royalty

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

‘Trooping the Colour has been cancelled for 2020.’ This announcement comes as no surprise. The pandemic that is plaguing our planet is unimpressed by the time-honoured traditions of the United Kingdom. The country has been celebrating the official birthday of its monarch for over 270 years, but Covid-19 is unlikely to dutifully disappear in deference to the Crown.

In 1975, on the second Saturday in June, I was among the thousands in London who witnessed the annual parade with its pomp and pageantry. When the royal cavalcade headed back to Buckingham Palace, we walked briskly alongside the carriages, in the same direction. Soon after, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, stepped onto the balcony, along with members of their family.

The regal group that greeted the cheering throng that afternoon has expanded through the decades. Forty-five years ago, Anne was the only one of the Queen’s children who was married, while Andrew and Edward were youngsters. Charles, Prince of Wales, was resplendent in his red uniform of Commander of the Welsh Guards. At twenty-six, he was an immensely popular, eligible bachelor. ‘Charlie! Charlie!’ yelled the women in the crowd, as he smiled and waved.

I was lucky enough to see Charles again, at Windsor Castle. I had gone there with Mary Katherine Street, who had been our landlady when my parents and I were living in England in the 1950s. Nearly two decades later, she was my guide to places of historical significance. The author of three novels about the life and times of Henry VIII, she was a fascinating fount of knowledge.

‘Auntie Mary’ was interested to learn that I had seen Prince Charles a few months earlier, playing polo in Delhi. A friend of mine somehow got hold of a film of the game, and, while watching it with her, I remarked that Charles was handsome. She declared that her fiancé was better looking. I refrained from making a caustic comment, since we were at her house and only halfway through the reel.

Today, that match is easily accessible on YouTube. So is Trooping the Colour of 1959, which I attended as a four-year-old. I do not remember much of the ceremony, but vividly recall Queen Elizabeth and her bright shade of lipstick!