More Gold

Spun Gold production company headed by Nick Bullen, has now showed my tester tape to the BBC.  Everyone seems to like it, so they say.  So fingers crossed that it leads to something.  In the meantime I am off to Windsor tomorrow as a guest at St George s chapel to see the Queen ! I will let you know more later in the week.

A new pair of shoes

This is not any pair of shoes, I bought my first pair of pointe ballet shoes.  I have always wanted to dance on my pointes, and perhaps I am a little old to start now as huge strength is required in the foot, ankle and lower leg, and in fact a very high level of fitness, in every part of the body.  But the beauty of the shoes will be worth the pain .  There is no hiding in ballet.  My teacher and the lady selling me the shoes have both noticed that my left foot and leg are not as strong as my right.  So I will just have to exercise that leg more.  What joy!

Play As Cast

Last night I was very lucky to be invited to the O'Shea Gallery in St James's Street to see Annie Tempest's first exhibition of sculpture. Annie's acute observational skills can now be enjoyed in a new medium, of bronze and steel in three dimension. Her understanding of body language and gesture is communicated in scultpure.  I was told off for touching one of the pieces, ( this one did not have a sign on it, so sorry) but really it could not be helped, it was too tempting, each piece demanded to be touched and stroked.  Julian Fellowes was going to introduce the exhibition, but was ill. So instead the speech was read by his wife, the very glamorous Emma Kitchener Fellowes. It was very touching as Emma gently mentioned Annie's loss of her son Freddy last year, and that her new work and exhibition was partly a result of this.  We all drank to Annie and Freddy, of course the Tottering range now includes champagne and sloe gin. The combination of Annie's great talent and Raymond O'Shea's skill of presenting this to the world, is a winner.

Shopping with my horses.

"Stopping to shop with Horses...why not?"

Well to me it seems perfectly natural to stop off at the supermarket with a couple of horses in the back (of the trailer of course).

I had had a wonderful ride on Holkham beach, in the glorious sunshine (which I'm hoping will stay, rather that the bitter cold we had been having) with a two great girlfriends this morning.

Of course when travelling it gives you time to work through and think of things that either need doing or getting and well I needed to buy a few things for supper.

Parking my trailer outside the supermarket and then rushing around at super sonic speed with my trolley, you would have been inclined to think that I was practicing for a slot on 'Supermarket Dash'.

Has anyone else got interesting shopping stories?

Spun Gold

Each week brings new challenges and opportunities. Last week mine was to take part in filmed 'interview' with renowned television production company Spun Gold. The aim of the filmed interview process is to choose a presenter to lead and host the newly created programme based around "The Season".

We discussed ideas of the tradition of "The Season" and the importance of the Royal Family's role . With talks of which fashions and appropriate manners are suited for each event, my enjoyment and excitement continued to grow.

It would be my idea of bliss to be involved in such a scheme, which would be covering many of the social events of upper class England from April to September.

From the Grand National to Burghley Horse Trails, with a huge array of events in between including the Chelsea Flower Show, The Trooping of the Colour, Royal Ascot, Hampton Court Flower Show, just to name a few.

The most important point is that Her Majesty the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attend many if not all these events, they are certainly Britian's greatest tourist magnets and add in a Diamond Jubilee and it's set to be an amazing summer.

The Justice Service

Well, if its going to pour with rain on Sunday morning, as it did today, then it is much better to be inside the wonderful Minster and Priory Church of St Margaret in the heart of Kings Lynn, enjoying the High Sheriff of Norfolk’s Justice Service. I couldn’t help but take in the historic surroundings that were founded by the first Bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losinga, in 1101.

The High Sheriff Mrs Charles Holloway, looked stunning in her ceremonial sheriff uniform, more commonly known as Court Dress. I also had the pleasure of watching various friends carry out their duties as judges, all of them looking highly distinguished whilst walking down the aisle in their full regalia and long (itchy) looking wigs.

“So what is the history behind this?”

The Office of the High Sheriff is at least one thousand years old, which makes it the oldest secular office under the Crown. The main duty of the High Sheriff is to enforce the Queen’s interest in the country. High Sheriffs are duly appointed personally by the Sovereign, declaring that they will "truly preserve the Queen’s rights ". There is an annual nomination ceremony in November in the Royal Courts of Justice, where the names for the Office are put forward, and the Sovereign, by ancient custom "pricks" the appointed name with a silver bodkin through vellum.

Throughout the service the church was filled with the sound of wonderful hymns and the National Anthem. With a chance to enjoy a well needed cup of tea, in the Town Hall afterwards.

Althorp Revisted

Last week I stepped into my ‘manners and etiquette teaching shoes’ and was set to revisit the stunning stately home of the Spencer family at Althorp, at the invitation of Anna Semler the Operational Manager.

The theme of the day was "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" (Anna's choice of words, which I think are rather apt for the situation).

Having visited the house last November and seen first hand the already high standards in place; my foremost concern was that there wouldn't be much I could teach them that they didn't already know.

“How could I help them improve their service?”

In retrospect I should have remembered that there are always ways to improve, and sometimes the joy of teaching is finding out what your pupil wants to learn. The wonderful and enthusiastic team at Althorp were more than happy to listen and take on the subject matter such as; titles, table etiquette and personal care, and ask pertinent questions in response.

We had a fantastic day together, role playing, collaborating on new ideas, and providing insights into how to distinguish their service from that of a good hotel, to an exclusive private country house.

The male member of staff is affectionately renamed "Hudson", no doubt for his dedication to his job,(you would probably have to be of a certain age to remember the lovable butler in the first and proper series of Upstairs and Downstairs).

I am thoroughly looking forward to my follow up visit in October.

Queen Elizabeth 11 by Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton and the Queen s relationship started in 1942, her first sitting was as a teenage princess. And for the next three decades he recorded the major events in the Royal family s life. Wartime images, formal coronation photographs and charming images of the Queen with her children especially her newborn. Cecil Beaton s personal scrapbooks bring the images to life. I rather liked the notes about the two royal Gloucester Princes who for their Coronation photographs were pulling their mother s train, by the afternoon they must all have been exhausted having been up since 5am getting ready.
It really is worth a visit to the V and A before the exhibition closes on the 22 April 2012.

2012 The Queen s Diamond Jubilee

On The 6th of February 2012, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will have reigned for 60 glorious years. She never celebrates this day, as she quietly remembers her father's death on this day in 1952. But in June the world will come to London to celebrate. Yesterday the palace released detailed information about the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday the 3 June. The flotilla of boats will be seven miles long, the most extravagant display on the river since Charles 11 s pageant in 1662. It will take and hour and a half to pass any point and at the centre will be the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, on a Royal Barge of red and gold.

What I had not realised is that not only will it be a splendid sight but will be accompanied by splendid sounds. As the bell tower pases, the chimes of the Royal Jubilee bells will be answered by church bells near the river, and trumpeters will sound a fanfare as the Royal Barge approaches each bridge. As well as waterborne bands and nautical choirs performing everything from military marches to English folk sonfs. Of course Handel's Water Music will be performed to serenade the Royal Barge as was the barge of George I serenaded in 1716.

The £10million to fund the pageant has come from individual donors and commercial sponsors, and no they are not allowed to commercialise the event. So why give so much money for no marketing return. Well I would have said that the nation admires, loves, and respects Queen Elizabeth II and she is worth every penny.

For those of you who wish to join the celebrations More Than Good Manners has created programmes for the Royal Jubilee Weekend, and for Royal Jubilee London and Royal Jubilee Norfolk, these will give you a real taste for English History in the making.

The Lady - A Grand LIfe

I spent a happy day last October showing Nicola Venning, a freelance journalist, some of the most impressive houses in Suffolk , Helmingam Hall and Sommerleyton Hall. Her article appeared in The Lady Magazine (13 January 2012 edition) under the title "My Devlish Day As An Aristocrat".

http://www.lady.co.uk/my_devilish_day_aristocrat

The families who live in these wonderful houses, also work very hard to keep doing so. We found Lady Tollemache of Helmingham Hall, on her small digger, digging out a new garden for this coming season, a downwards sprial in a snail shape. What I love about women like her is that they work very hard, and will get their hands dirty, and yet with a bit of "lick and polish" look stunning at the wedding of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

At Sommerleyton Hall, Hugh and Lara Crossley have only been at the helm for a few years, yet have already poured work and love into their new home, and what is so wonderful is that More Than Good Manners can arrange for you to meet these lovely people, who really do "ouse charm from every pore", and experience a stay, a "taste of a Grand life " in one of their ancestral and stately homes.