London Pride (Pt. 1)

Hello everybody, so its time to tell you the story of my Remembrancetide.

So we were in London on the Saturday afternoon. The first thing we did was to eat at TGIs and then took a taxi ride to The Royal Albert Hall. I have to say that the taxi ride cost me a lot of money, but the route has its splendid parts: taking us past Buckingham Palace and along the Mall and then Kensington Gore.

As we approached the Albert Hall, we first of all began to see increasingly large groups of people clutching programmes, sporting ornate poppies and lots of medals. They had just left the afternoon performance! Then we saw barriers - they lined both sides of the road and prevented anyone stopping or getting near the RAH. At either ends of the approach were white marquees and armed policemen lined the pavements and roads.
Disembarking from the taxi, we headed for the marquee where we passed through a metal detector and had our bags searched. All of these measures in place, of course, because HM The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family would be in attendance. Chris had already informed me that mobile phone jamming may be in place so we were constantly texting back and forth to try and arrange where to meet! We were part of a swelling crowd outside of Door 6, which is right opposite the Royal College of the Arts where the participants in the Festival were being fed and rested.

We could see several different types of military personnel milling around amongst the armed police and in the dusk, with the RAH backlit and crowds growing outside, the atmosphere was laced with expectation, sobriety and cameraderie.

Once inside there was a stand selling all kinds of Poppy merchandise and we took time to browse and see all the different ways that the RBL are trying to raise money. Then we met up with Chris!!! Now it has been 3 whole years since I've actually seen Chris and we couldn't believe we had left it that long. We got a drink from the bar and headed up to the gods to marvel at the architechture of the building. This will give you an idea of what its like looking down from way up high

Awesome eh?

The wonderous first sight of the Hall and being reunited with my dear old friend was a great start to the evening. We caught up, checked out the seating arrangements and I was treated to some inside gossip on Katherine Jenkins before I had to go and take my seat and Chris had to change etc. Then on with the show!!

The full muster after the poppy petals have fallen with the drumhead altar, book and torch of Remembrance, Queen's Colour & RBL National Standard. The children present the poppy posy to the RBL National President.

Needless to say, we were NOT meant to be taking pictures, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to capture Chris on camera, so these are the fruits of my labour.

Highlights of the Festival for me (there are a LOT):
O Seeing Chris take part in the muster
O Seeing the Chelsea Pensioners and War Widows and the response from the audience towards them
O Being part of such a large group singing the National Anthem and hymns
O Seeing Alfie Boe and the Band of HM Royal Marines perform "Over the Hills"
O Seeing the Military Wives Choir and Gareth Malone perform "Wherever You Are"
O Watching the Poppy Petals fall

Both of these amazing videos are worth a watch and the Military Wives Choir single is definately worth a download or two!

Wathing th ewhole thing back again on the TV completed the experience and I got to see Chris twice! You can't beat being there though and I would almost certainly go again. I would choose different seats though - as you see from the pics, we were rather off to one side. Much to my outrage we were directly above The Queen, so never even saw her for a second. Still, it did feel like everyone was singing towards us!!

Chris was also on parade at the Cenotaph the following morning and so my eyes were peeled for him there too! Overall the visit to London and to the Festival of Remembrance did fill me with pride: of our nation, of its Armed Forces; of the individuals who value service rather than self.