The Queens Garden Party – Elliot Jehan

The Queens Garden Party (May 2016) – Elliot Jehan
I first found out in March that I had been selected to attend HM The Queen’s Garden Party as one of three stewards representing the West of England & Channel Islands District.
As I live in Guernsey, having found out so early was very beneficial for me as it allowed me to plan my trip far ahead of time, allowing me to book where I was going to stay and all of my travel arrangements without having to rush.
I travelled to London the day before, with my dad and my grandpa (as they hadn’t been to London in a while), to allow for plenty of time to travel, get to our hotel, grab a bite to eat and so on… On the day of the party we were to meet in front of Westminster Chapel where we would then be moved to a room around the back of the Chapel to allow us to change and also get a rundown of the day ahead by Eric Hudson and Kevin Norman, the two officers in charge of our involvement with the event.
Once everyone had changed into their uniforms we were escorted by Eric and Kevin, to the front of Buckingham palace where we would proceed to have our photo taken by Eric, Kevin and passers-by. Getting into the palace itself involved we having to enter through one of the side entrances and required us to have both photo I.D and a POA (Proof of Address), luckily we all got in.
After having enjoyed lunch in one of the Palace’s many rooms, we were then assigned the roles that we would then have to fulfil throughout the course of the afternoon. I was fortunate enough to be assigned the role of counting the tickets of the guests as they entered the palace, a role I shared with only one other person; however Kevin was also there to assist us, along with the seniors who were assigned to greet said guests and then pass their tickets on to us to be counted.
After having counted and sorted the Eight Thousand-odd tickets, we were then given a break and were allowed to venture outside to the steps overlooking the party itself and talk to one-another, along with any of the guests who either needed information, or who happen to recognise the BB uniforms. The end of our break came at roughly the same time that the guests were beginning to leave. We were then instructed to form a guard of  honour on either side of the main lobby, as a way to honour the various guests (one of whom was the Captain of the 2nd Guernsey company Steve England, the company to which I am a part of) who attended the party.
After all was said and done we were given Certificates to recognize our service for the day, along with some monetary compensation. We finally returned to Westminster Chapel just after Seven o’clock, I left with my dad and grandpa shortly after as we had to return to the hotel to grab our bags before traveling to Gatwick to stay the night.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed both my trip to London and helping out at the Palace and would like to thank everyone involved for giving me the opportunity to attend such an event.

Elliot Jehan – 2nd Guernsey Company