What a Wedding! We did our best at Earnscliffe, a few hours after the event, to celebrate a joyous and successful occasion. We brought a taste of Buckingham Palace to Ottawa, re-creating in our kitchen many of the canapés at the reception. As part of Canada’s Royal Family, I trust the happy couple would approve of us toasting their health and future in good Canadian sparkling wine. Our 150 Canadian, British and international guests, many from the media and Diplomatic Corps, joined in with gusto.
And we were proud of London. Wasn’t the city a picture, en fete, alive with spring colour and cheer! Even the English weather put in a benign appearance. Then there were the uniforms, carriages (horsed and horseless), the Palace in impeccable Portland stone, and the Abbey. What a gem. I thought the trees – field maple and hornbeam – worked very well, while the Gothic arches and the music soared above. Light-touch security helped too: impressive with a million people on the streets.
And at the still centre of all this sound and motion, a young and happy couple, who will make their first official visit together to Canada in July. I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to encourage you to fight for a ticket, but you know what I mean. Stand by your flat screens! In the meantime, we enjoyed, with our guests, a chance to wish them well.