You can argue with me on whether you agree with my definition after you’ve read this Post.
Things we’ve attended this year that I’ve not had space to mention so far. You see, not going away gives me time to catch up.
The first item, that JD might not agree with me on (is that good grammar? I know what I mean) was to see ‘Six’, a musical about Henry VIII’s six wives. I cannot remember why we decided to go and see it as he generally does not like musicals. Especially ones involving rap and such like. I guess we had a free evening and it was getting good reviews. According to the programme, it’s a satire, I wish I’d realised that. I just enjoyed the different music genres that each wife had. If you don’t know the story (if you attended a school in the UK, you will know the story), it concerns the Tudor King Henry VIII’s six wives. Oh, I’ve already told you that. In essence that is it. Recite after me, ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’. Aha, but can you get the names in the right order? I can’t unless prompted (answers at the end). I’m a scientist, we know nothing. As you can see from this picture, it is not historically accurate. Well, they’d not be able to dance as they did in Tudor Costumes, would they?
In my Last Post, I mentioned Harold Wilson but missed my cue to tell you we had gone to see ‘I’m Sorry Prime Minister’. I’m slipping, it would have been a nice segue (which I have just discovered I’ve been mispronouncing all my life, not seg-you but segway, like those things you ride on). This play we both enjoyed, possibly because it was not a musical. For those of a Certain Age, it was based on the very popular (and prophetic) television series ‘Yes, Minister’ (21 episodes) that aired in the early 1980’s, followed by ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ (16 episodes) a few years later. Part of the appeal had to be the actors Nigel Hawthorne, Paul Eddington and Derek Fowlds, none of them with us any longer. If you’ve never seen it, or just want to revisit, go to YouTube. You can buy the whole series or just watch short scenes. Here’s a sketch as a starter.
For those in the UK, some of the episodes are on BBC iPlayer for free:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006xtc3/episodes/guide
Meanwhile, the play was billed as ‘The final chapter of Yes, Minister’ starring Griff Rhys Jones as the now retired PM and Clive Francis as Sir Humphrey, his Cabinet Secretary (the most powerful Civil Servant). It is set in an Oxford college and it’s worth reading this review to get a feel of the evening. Whilst serious points were made, we came out smiling and haven’t laughed so much in the theatre for a long time.
We decided to go to the Royal Opera House, oops sorry, The Royal Ballet and Opera, to see Mayerling, a ballet with music by Franz Liszt and choreography by Kenneth Macmillan. It was written by the latter in 1978 and tells the complicated and tragic story of Count Prince Rudolf of the Habsburg Empire. It involves the double death of Rudolph and a 17-year-old girl, Mary Vetsera: due to a court cover-up, the actual truth has never been revealed. As you can imagine, a very different experience from the previous event. As usual here, the dancing was superb. We had the extra joy of George being over from China for a few days, so he was able to join us, although we could not get three seats together. We were there just before the curtains were altered from ER II to CR III so we need to go back. I’m not convinced we’ll notice a difference?
Now I do have a segue, from curtains to outfits. In June, both George and Yangtze came over to the UK for a few weeks. Yangtze managed to book tickets for us to go to Buckingham Palace and see the exhibition ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go into the Palace proper, merely the King’s Gallery, but even that was a treat.
https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/queen-elizabeth-ii-her-life-in-style
The French fashion house Lanvin created a wardrobe of clothes for two dolls sent to Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret. This dress is a miniature replica of dresses they both wore, complete with belt of padded gold lamé.
The two princesses would dress up in fancy dress for parties: this is one worn by Elizabeth in 1930 and by Margaret four years later. There was originally a wand that went with it but I cannot imagine it surviving throughout a normal childhood. As an aside, there was an article in the papers last week about the Princess Royal (her daughter Anne) who turned 76 at the weekend. She is still wearing clothes she had at the age of 18! The Royal Family are an excellent example to us of recycling and reusing rather than throwing away. If only I could fit into clothing I had at 18.
The styles varied to reflect her life, from childhood onwards. This outfit, for example, from 1946, when she was still Princess Elizabeth, is the robe and headdress created by Ede and Ravenscroft (recognised by anyone who has undergone a graduation ceremony) for when she became an Honorary Bard at the National Eisteddfod in Wales.
While I’m on a roll, JD and I met the current Queen, Camilla, at Clarence House, the official Royal Residence. No unofficial photos were allowed inside, so here we are joining the queue to get in. We received an official invitation from The Master of the Household’s Office, which I have put away somewhere safe (um…). I was glad to see that hats and gloves were not required, although the sunshine meant a hat would have been useful.
This was an event to celebrate 40 years of the charity Royal Osteoporosis Society, which JD and I support and of which the Queen is President. Here’s the link to the article about the day.
https://theros.org.uk/news/celebrating-40-years-of-progress-with-a-special-anniversary-reception
A lot of famous people were there: Anglela Rippon, Jules Holland, Susan Hampshire, Miriam Margolyes, Julien Macdonald (who we spoke with, and encouraged him to do another fashion show, see Post 62 of November 2019, where I now find out I spelt Julien incorrectly). And us. Julien pushed us to the front row, where we had a few words with Her Majesty. In one (official) photo I look as though I’m about to kiss her, I’ll be sent to the Tower if I’m not careful. I’ll see if I can order the photos and put one on a future Post, with the photographer’s copyright.
That day was possibly the busiest we’ve had for a long time. In the early evening, we attended a lecture at the Royal Institution, held by The University of Surrey. Dr Nicky Fox is Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Her undergraduate degree and doctorate are from London but she studied for an MSc in Telematics and Satellite Communications at Surrey, after my time, and had been awarded an honorary doctorate before she came and talked with us that evening.
There’s an episode of Desert Island Discs from 2023 that is well worth listening to if you can access the BBC. Make sure you have a hankie handy though, there’s tragedy in her life as well as fantastic achievements. She is such a role model for women. (As is Lucy Barnes, see Post 160 of June 2024).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001stn6
Even then, the day was not over. It just so happened that, that evening, England were playing Argentina in the World Cup. Normally I have no interest in football, but we thought it could be fun to get together with some pals from Surrey and watch together. Our contact Jessie arranged food and invited along Surjit and Christina Chana, who live in New York. Surjit studied Physics at Surrey and their daughter also went there. She played football (or soccer, if you’re American) so they knew all the rules and kept me informed. Unfortunately, the day ended badly when Argentina beat England 2:1, but there’s always the next World Cup (possibly).
To add another variation, I went to an exhibition of paintings by Hurvin Anderson at the (proper) Tate. I’d never heard of him, just happened to meet Jessie there for lunch one day and we thought we should be polite and appreciate the atmosphere.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/hurvin-anderson
He began painting from photographs after arriving in the UK. I loved the exhibition; you’ve got two days left to get to London and see it. It’s his first major solo show and I’ll look out for him again. His art was so varied but all interesting, not a progression as he matured.
And the answer to my question at the beginning of this Post: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. Three Catherines, two Annes and a Jane. No wonder it’s confusing.
George and John's boating trip no longer 