The nation has truly come together after the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The sudden gathering of the Royal Family at Balmoral, then the shock of the subsequent few hours will become a life defining moment, as we will always remember where we were when the sad news was announced.
I read that around one third of the Queen’s British subjects have either met or seen her as she travelled the country. She visited Watford on a number of occasions, commencing with the first amalgamated Hertfordshire Agricultural Show in Cassiobury Park in July 1946 when she was Princess Elizabeth. She would have seen riding and jumping competitions, displays of pedigree livestock and exhibitions. A further five visits to the town as Queen followed.
We all have our own memories of the Queen, which have been widely publicised in the press. My very first memory is of watching her in her Gold State Coach on television, waving to the crowds en route to Westminster Abbey for her coronation. I still have my coronation souvenir programme and a small card, inside of which is a tassel of Lullingstone Silk, intended as a bookmark. With a portrait of the Queen, it reads: ‘This tassel is made of Lullingstone Silk which will be used in Coronation Robes’.
In the late 1960s, my father received an invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and I was able to accompany my parents. I recall a great sense of occasion as we walked through Buckingham Palace and onto the wide-open lawns. People from various organisations were grouped together, some in uniform, awaiting the arrival of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Anne and other members of the Royal Family. I recall the Queen talked to a group of uniformed ladies in front of us. What struck me was her diminutive height, which contrasted with the sheer aura of her presence. I could see how graciously she interacted with the uniformed ladies.
My next brush with royalty, this time in Watford, was at a luncheon in the Assembly Halls, once known as the small Town Hall; now the Watford Colosseum. It was a fund-raising event for the Watford Queen’s Silver Jubilee Fund, held on February 21, 1978. 450 people from local voluntary groups in the Watford area were seated at 41 tables, happy to pay for the privilege. I shared a table with my parents, Marion Cannard and Pat Makay; also from the Oxhey Village Environment Group (OVEG) committee. Another OVEG committee member, Councillor Geoff Greenstreet, later Mayor, was seated with his wife Jill near the dignitaries on the top table. We all rose from our seats when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, entered the hall. Mayor Alan Bonney proposed the toast to the Queen, whilst speeches were made by the chairman of the Watford Queen’s Silver Jubilee Committee, Mr. Harold Elliot; Mayor Alan Bonney; and the Prince of Wales. Looking through the programme, I see many then-familiar Watford names, including Raphael Tuck MP, great grandson of the art publishing firm, Raphael Tuck & Sons; Albert Dillingham, A.L. Merrifield, A. Reynolds and Mrs. Mary Dodd, past mayors of Watford; and John and Peter Ausden of scrap metal merchants George Ausden Ltd., now in its fifth generation. It was a luncheon to remember.
My souvenir of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee was a hand-cut crystal vase, made by Watford Glass Co. Ltd., which is no longer in business. Designed by Felicity Peck, MBE, it was etched ‘No. 92’ of 250. The firm was founded by a German, Gus Kiwi. Felicity Peck was his daughter. Buckingham Palace ordered two of their hand-cut vases.
In 2001, during a period when my children were young, I was part-time activities organiser at Brunswick Court Care Home in Stratford Road and secured the assistance of The Prince’s Trust to convert a closed-off area in the garden where there was a fountain into an accessible haven for the residents. 16 young members of the Watford branch carried out major renovation work, bringing in a digger, creating paths, building raised flower beds and planting roses. The result was so impressive that I wrote a thank you letter to the Prince of Wales, naming each of The Prince’s Trust members who had contributed their time and effort. I was surprised to receive a reply from the Prince’s private secretary with his thanks and good wishes to all at Brunswick Court.
Around five years later, the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, visited my then-workplace in Northwood. She came into the office, shook hands with us all and enquired what our roles entailed. She spent a considerable time listening to us, asking questions and left a very positive impression.
As we reflect on the Queen’s long life well lived and our own precious memories of her, we declare God Save the King!
Lesley Dunlop is the daughter of the late Ted Parrish, a well-known local historian and documentary filmmaker. He wrote 96 nostalgic articles for the ‘Evening Post-Echo’ in 1982-83 which have since been published in ‘Echoes of Old Watford, Bushey & Oxhey’, available at www.pastdayspublishing.com and Bushey Museum. Lesley is currently working on ‘Two Lives, Two World Wars’, a companion volume that explores her father’s and grandfather’s lives and war experiences, in which Watford, Bushey and Oxhey’s history will take to the stage once again.
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