Royal garden parties

A ROYAL TRADITION 

Over 30,000 people attend the Royal Garden Parties each year. They are used today as a way to enable the British Establishment to reward public service and outstanding contributions to the community in a way which the former Coming Out parties did not.

Admission is by invitation only, and all invitations are sent out by the Lord Chamberlain on behalf of The Queen, in fact all the arrangements are planned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. One of the characteristics of these parties is the long queues, if you thought the queues for the Millenium Dome were bad wait until you are invited to a Royal Garden Party.

Eventually you hand in your invitation and then seemingly in the Palace garden itself, the sense of over-crowding disappears. Uniformed Yeomen of the Guard, Gentlemen at Arms and Gentlemen Ushers are responsible for overseeing the guests and bringing some of them (not all) forward to speak to the Queen. When the members of the Royal Family emerge from the Palace, the Lord Chamberlain walks beside the Queen and the other members take separate routes so that they come into contact with as many people as possible. After meeting several members of the public, the Queen has tea in the royal tent, then meets distinguished Commonwealth visitors and begins a slow progress back to the Palace.

The dress code for these events is very strice, gentlemen are expected to wear morning dress, lounge suits or uniform, whilst ladies wear afternoon dress (usually with hats). However, national dress can also be worn.

CHRISTMAS IN UK

Something about culture, if you are really interested in knowing british customs please look at this picture...

BRITISH CUISINE NOWADAYS

BRITISH CUISINE TODAY

In the late 1980's, British cuisine started to look for a new direction. Disenchanted with the overblown (and under-nourished) Nouvelle Cuisine, chefs began to look a little closer to home for inspiration. Calling on a rich (and largely ignored) tradition, and utilising many diverse and interesting ingredients, the basis was formed for what is now known as modern British food. Game has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity although it always had a central role in the British diet, which reflects both the abundant richness of the forests and streams and an old aristocratic prejudice against butchered meats.

In London especially, one can not only experiment with the best of British, but the best of the world as there are many distinct ethnic cuisines to sample, Chinese, Indian, Italian and Greek restaurants are amongst the most popular.

BRITISH FOOD

BRITISH CUISINE!

Yes, we do have a wide and varied cuisine in Britain today, no more do we suffer under the image of grey boiled meat! After years of disparagement by various countries (especially the French) Britain now has an enviable culinary reputation. In fact some of the great chefs now come from Britain, I kid you not!

However Britain's culinary expertise is not new! In the past British cooking was amongst the best in the world. Mrs Beeton is still one of the renowned writers of cookery books, her creations have now gained international popularity, years after her death.

Traditional British cuisine is substantial, yet simple and wholesome. We have long believed in four meals a day. Our fare has been influenced by the traditions and tastes from different parts of the British empire: teas from Ceylon and chutney, and mulligatawny soup from India.

ENGLAND'S TIME

English National Dress

Unfortunately the English don't really have a traditional National Dress as such. In one notorious episode during the Miss World pageant the English contestant came out wearing a Beefeater's costume, it was very embarrassing I can tell you.

There have been calls over the years to create a costume, but as usual no-one can decide on what it should look like. Even Henry VIII got in on the act and commissioned an artist called Van Dyck to create an English National Costume, this also failed. So for lack of anything else I will leave you with the following picture of the nearest thing - a Beefeater costume as worn by Miss England.

Irish national dress

Irish National Dress

With the revival of Irish dancing, the traditional Irish costume has become associated with the bright flamboyant costumes worn by traditional Irish dancers. However in ancient Ireland people were more likely to be seen wearing 'leine' (Irish for shirt), trews (Irish for trousers) and long cloaks fastened with a brooch.

All in all there are a lot of myths and legends surrounding many of the so called 'traditional' costumes. Often when you do some real historical research you will find that they aren't that old or traditional.