Tuesday, June 29, 2010

My Queen! My Queen!

Part of the reason I've been a blog posting fiend today and yesterday is because I have family coming to visit, so, after tonight, I am likely not going to be online much until Sunday or Monday.  Before I go and finish prepping the house for guests, I thought I would do a post related to the Queen's visit to Canada.  Her Majesty arrived in Halifax, NS, yesterday, and she will be making her way to Ottawa for the July 1st Canada Day festivities.  I believe she is headed to Toronto, which isn't far from where I live, on Sunday.  I would LOVE to go and see her in person, but duty of hosting calls.  Still, I had fun imagining what I would wear for a Canada Day/Queen meet and greet: why a 1930s ensemble in RED and WHITE to match the Canadian flag, of course!  After seeing a news segment on the proper etiquette to follow when meeting the Queen, I should have added a hat (apparently, a hat should be worn before 6 PM).



I leave you with the following TRUE, Queen related anecdote.  When I was about two or three years old, my mother was asked by her employer to meet an employee from out of town at a rather posh hotel in downtown Edmonton, Alberta.  So, with me in tow, she rushed to try to meet this woman whom she had only spoken with over the phone.  When she got to the hotel, she noticed that there was a long cordoned off path along a red carpet that ran from the front entrance of the lobby of the hotel to the elevator, but she was too distracted looking for the coworker to wonder what this set up was for or why there were people milling about the lobby and elevator.  Long story short, my mom stopped with me right off to one side of the elevator doors.  While she scanned the crowd, I, dressed in a little pink dress, stood with one hand holding my mother's, the other holding on to one of the velvet rope partitions, which I started swinging back and forth.  Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and Her Majesty, the Queen, stepped out.  Guess who was the first thing she saw? ME!  Being a lover of children, she apparently picked me up and began talking to me!  I must note that from a VERY young age, I was in love with the Royals, so I immediately knew who she was.  I also had started speaking quite early, so when I was face to face with the monarch, I started shrieking, "Momma! MY QUEEN! MY QUEEN!" (For of course she was only MY queen in those days). My poor oblivious mother did not hear me or see that it was the Queen who had just caused me to let go of her hand.  She turned to tell off and/or physically assault the person trying to take me and came face to face with HER MAJESTY.  Needless to say, the day me mum almost slugged the Queen has become a classic family story (how punk rock in a Sid Vicious sort of way).

19 comments:

Diva said...

Have a big grin from ear to ear ! And the dress ... well in your own words - Swoon ! You look sooo stylish ! Hope you´ll have great time with your family !

Miss Tami Lee said...

Oh my gosh, that story is hilarious! Too bad you don't have any pictures from the "meet & greet" haha

Nancy said...

Oh, I LOVE this story! And the red and white outfit is tres apropos!

Eileen said...

That is awesome! What a fabulous story! And the dress is great, too. :)

Anonymous said...

Tres bonne, bella. Magnifique. Do tell, what power do your aristocracy have there in Canada? Is it merely symbolic or...?

I'll bet you were the bees knees as a wee one looking into the queen's eyes... :)

Anonymous said...

Hahaha, what an awesome story! Truly, life is funnier and stranger than fiction.

Have a great weekend with your family!

Debi said...

What a great story! I love it! And the dress is FANTASTIC!

garofit said...

great story and can't even start to tell you how fabulous you look in this dress, i absolutely love it, and that bag! by the way I have the feeling i have seen that before - ebay?

B-b-b-etty said...

AWESOME!

Barbara von Enger said...

What a charming story! You look so regal in that dress and the colour is so striking against your
dark hair;-)

Anonymous said...

Excellent story !!! Your mother didn't expect to meet the Queen ah ah ah a ha .

You are stunning in your red dress.

Frollein von Sofa said...

you look s pretty ! your shiny curly hair....and tha dress !!!!!

Charlotte said...

LOVE that dress - and the hilarious anecdote haha! You look lovely.

xx Charlotte
Tuppence Ha'penny

jordiegirl said...

What a fabulous story and I love the red dress, red being my favourite colour of course.

I am English and didn't even know our Queen was visiting Canada! My brother lives in Toronto, he never mentioned it, not sure if they will try to see her as his wife is unwell at the moment and he's had heart trouble of late too.

I wish you a happy Canada Day when it arrives.

BaronessVonVintage said...

The Queen is a symbolic entity nowadays here in Canada. I saw on the news that about 48% of Canadians polled had no idea the Queen was even visiting (probably explains why your brother didn't know, Jordiegirl!)

Thanks for the kind words about the dress (oopsy, my inverted kick pleat was sticking out...hehe wardrobe malfunction). I must say that this is a prized addition to my closet (I've never had a frock with Juliet sleeves). I did indeed get it on eBay (good eyes, garofit)...I'm very lucky I didn't get outbid, but this was one of those auctions that reminded me why I HATE buying via auction on eBay. The dress has several flaws and needs some repair work, but the demand for it jacked the price up higher than I wanted it go. In the end, I adore it, I am happily pinching pennies in other areas to compensate, but eBay can be SO annoying!

Nancy said...

That is a really cute story! How lucky you were to have been held by the Queen! I am very glad your Mother didn't actually let one fly at the Queen.

Stefanie Valentine said...

Haha what a great story, so funny! You look very lovely and regal.

MarieBayArea said...

i love your story! how wonderful to meet the queen that way. your "queen meet and greet dress" is so pretty and i really like the print on your clutch bag.

Miss Matilda said...

:-)