Unofficial Royalty

Hello dear readers,

Welcome to day one of my London adventure! So far today I have walked from my hotel to Lancaster House located between Buckingham Palace and St. James Palace on a path called Queen's Walk, the Milkmaid Passage. Well, they screened me well before I got into the gate having to show my letter and forms and passport, etc. Then I dropped my purse at the door and passed through a metal detector up a short flight of stairs to the media accreditation desk on the left. There I showed the woman all the paperwork - thank heaven I made duplicates of everything and brought them!! I held my breath while she looked through the box and thought I would squeal with delight when she pulled out the pass for me!!! I put it around my neck, thanked everyone at least twice each and left. The Policeman who stopped me on the way in asked me how it turned out and I said, "Great! I got it!!! I'm so happy I got it!!" He smiled as I'm sure that isn't the typical reaction, but I felt like doing the Snoopy dance right then and there. Then I walked back through the Mall looking at all the construction of the bleachers and lighting and gazebos, etc. for the press and felt like running out to the Queen Victoria Memorial in the center in front of Buckingham Palace and doing a Mary Tyler Moore throw your hat up in the air thing.

Well, I stopped at the Royal Mews gift shop and spent £60. on postcards and a sampler for the Jubilee. Then here to write to all of you. This doesn't mean I will necessarily get into the concerts, however, I will get into the other events and have the option of applying for a rota for the concerts which I will do next.

Take care! I'll be looking forward to giving you some great information tomorrow!!

All the best,

-- Eileen Sullivan --