On Tuesday 6th July 2010 siblings CWO Chantal Edwardes and Sgt George Edwardes were lucky enough to be invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace as part of the cadet 150 celebrations.  It was an amazing day, starting off with a huge parade marching up though the mall and past the palace.  At precisely 1400 the red arrows flew directly over the parade.  This was particularly special because there was a cadet in the backseat of each of the red arrows.

After the parade had finished at around 1430 the palace gates opened and the guests filed in.  The Palace gardens were spectacular and so large that it was easy to forget that you were in central London.  Once the marquee had opened for tea, dozens of people settled outside to eat the numerous sandwiches they had managed to pile onto the small plates; so naturally we joined them.  Talking to other people, we realised that everyone felt just as lucky as ourselves to be invited to the palace.

We were especially lucky to have received an invitation to the royal tea tent, which opened at 1615. There were around thirty people inside the royal tent, including HRH Prince Charles, the head of the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. The prince was very conversational and took time to talk to all of the guests inside the tent. We also spoke to the majority of guests inside the tent, and it was very interesting and encouraging to hear from the senior figures the potential they saw in the cadet organisations. There were two other cadets inside the tent, representing the Army Cadet Force and the Sea Cadet Corps, they were both interesting to talk to and compare our experiences in the different services.

Inevitably the garden party drew to a close and we had to return to the main gates, but not without taking a last look at the gardens. It’s safe to say that this is an experience that will never be forgotten.

Article Submitted by:-
WO Dave Ariss 1289 ( Stratford Upon Avon ) Sqn
26 Jul 10