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The Yeoman of the Silver Pantry and his team
of eight spend three weeks unpacking George IV's
4,000-piece Grand Service from its temperature-
controlled storage. Each item is hand washed,
dried and polished. Another team unpacks the
priceless Minton dessert plates and Tournai fruit
plates that adorn 19 serving stations along the sides
of the room.
Go, Go, Go…
Come the night footmen in red and gold deliver the
food to pages wearing dark livery. The Palace
Steward in charge uses a system of traffic lights to
co-ordinate the 100-strong team: blue is standby,
amber is go, go go. The Queen’s Bodyguard of the
Yeoman of the Guard in full uniforms and armed
with that great two-handed pole with an axe on top
known as the halbard guard the entrance to the
Ballroom. Others are placed around the Ballroom
itself and two stand behind the Queen throughout
the evening. Nobody starts to eat until HM The
Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh begin to eat
and when they finish the plates are cleared whether
you are finished or not! It is said that Palace regulars
dine before they come!
Barbara Bush said that the entertainment at the
Palace
out-Disneyed Disney
but even at a State
Banquet things have occasionally gone wrong.
In the early days of the Queen’s reign, it is said that
a footman spilled gravy on the brand new Paris
gown of the actress Beatrice Lillie. Bea, once called
the funniest woman in the world, who’d played the
white slaver Mrs Meers alongside Julie Andrews in
Thoroughly Modern Millie, is reported as saying:
I will thank you never to darken my Dior again
.
Oh I do hope that is true!
Piping Down
The end of the evening is signalled by the arrival
of twelve pipers from the Irish or Scots Guards
accompanied by the Queen’s own piper. The thing
with the pipers began with Queen Victoria who
developed an unfathomable fondness for pipers
.
It is something that seems to have thrived in the
female line. I believe that the late Queen Mother
was woken each morning by a piper on the terrace
outside her bedroom at Clarence House.
During State Visits gifts are exchanged. The Queen
gave President Tan copies of Adam Smith's the
Wealth of Nations and James Maitland's The Nature
Of Public Wealth presented in a leather box.
The President was also given a pair of photographs
in silver frames and Mrs Tan received a wooden box
inlaid with the Queen's royal cypher. The President
gave the Queen a collection of hand-painted china
plates with designs depicting places she had visited
during her three state visits to Singapore in 1972,
1989 and 2006 as well as a book with photographs
of the places from the National Archives of Singapore.
The Duke of Edinburgh was given a framed photo
of a family of black-naped terns, white birds that are
local to Singapore.
In 2015 the big table will be laid for the Chinese
President Xi JinPing – the other State Visit and
whether it will be at Buckingham Palace, Windsor
Castle or The Palace of Holyrood is yet to be
announced. The State Apartments are open this
summer daily from 1 August to 27 September 2015.
Detail from the Exeter Salt © Royal Collection Enterprises
