As today is Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday...her portrait as Wonder Woman by Andy Leipzig is a favorite of mine...our Union Jack flag is flying outside. I have been thinking about our times in England....but first...newly released photo by Annie Leibovitz at Windsor Castle for the Queen's 90th birthday of her with her great grandchildren...can you spot Prince George and Princess Charlotte? And their darling little cousin Mia...granddaughter of Princess Anne...holding the Queen's handbag....
On our annual month long buying trips to the UK, we always spent a week in London at the antique faires/markets there. Twice we stayed at the Rubens At The Palace, at the corner of Buckingham Palace Road...also because of it's proximity to a favorite place...The Royal Mews
One of the Palace entrances was just across the street from our room one year...
We were in this room....
Another time we were around the corner, and this was the view from the window...with the wall into the Palace in view on the right...
I don't have a photo of the room that time....
This was the Library dining room...and we had a package that included dinner here...we were the first dinner reservation that night as we had tickets to Les Miserables in the West End and had to eat early...
Our package also included afternoon tea which was wonderfully traditional, served in their tea lobby....the hotel had a creaky ornate brass grille elevator and outside the Leopard Martini Bar just off the lobby had this wonderful ceramic leaopard sitting there to greet everyone....
A wonderful hotel...sort of a special occasion hotel really...we loved it!
And this is right around the corner...a favorite place to visit...one of my favorite memories, was our car hire firm delivering our car to the hotel...with a small fold up motor cycle in the boot for the delivery man to ride back to the office after delivery!
Being a horse lover used-to-be horse owner, I always love visiting the Queen's Windsor Greys...and the Mews is also where all the Royal carriages are kept...including the fabulous State coach....
Basically, we always found time for a visit. Wonderful place if you ever have a chance to visit. Thanks for visiting! I'm off for a cuppa...
Dear Ruth:
ReplyDeleteThat photo is darling. Thanks for sharing all this information and you have some terrific photos - great fun to see it all!
Actually I think that Queen Elizabeth has showed us many times to be something like a Wonder Woman, starting from what she did as a young princess during the World War II when she repaired jeeps and military trucks !
ReplyDeleteI so love all the places you visit and where you stay during your trip to London, I'm sure that holiday of yours is truly unforgettable, my dearest Ruth !
Hope your week is off to a great start, I wish you wonderful days to come, sending love to you
Dany
Love the photo of the Queen as Wonder Woman! The hotel you stayed at sounds wonderful, too. I actually visited the Royal Mews - way back in 1981 - I barely remember it. It was the Fall after Charles and Diana's wedding, and my only memory is of tables and tables of their wedding gifts lined up for visitor viewing. My favorite place in London to visit was Westminster Abbey - awe inspiring. I confess I envy you your frequent trips - I haven't been back since. And I wasn't a tea drinker at the time, so I didn't visit any tea rooms!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen that painting before! It's awesome!
ReplyDeleteOne day I'll visit England and I'll put a visit to the Royal Mews on the list of must do's!
Although I'll have to admit to a huge preference for Her Majesty as portrayed in the photo by Annie Lebovitz, it's good to hear of respect for her war service, which of course went far beyond her work in vehicle mechanics. The hotel looks lovely - when we weren't staying with my great-aunt, we always stayed in a now-closed private hotel in South Kensington, but sometime I'd love to stay closer to the Palace and the Mall. The tea presentation is so attractive in your photo!
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