Invited for tea at queen’s 90th

Queenstown woman shares many royal ‘links’

A YOUNG woman who was born and raised in Queenstown, Janet Callahan, was a guest at one of Queen Elizabeth’s recent 90th birthday celebration functions, and there are many other coincidental links.

But let’s start at the beginning. Twins Janet and Carol are the daughters of Ruth and the late Jake Venter.

The sisters left South Africa in June last year, and Janet and her husband, Robert Callahan, now share a flat with Carol in Wimbledon, and they all work in London.

Janet works as a human resources analyst for the Crown Estate, which is an asset management company involved with the running of Windsor Great Park, among many other royal estates.

The staff were among those invited by the queen to a garden party in the grounds of Windsor Castle, as her way of thanking them for what they do and making them part of her birthday celebrations.

Everyone dressed for the occasion and were taught how to curtsey (or bow) and how to address the queen if the occasion arose, before being transported by coach out to Windsor, where Janet was joined by Robert. Marquees had been beautifully set up on the lawns (as only the British can) in balmy spring weather, and guests were served tea.

The queen and Prince Philip arrived in their Range Rover and did their customary walkabout, chatting to people, but they did not stay very long. She is 90 after all, and he is a number of years older, and there have been a large number of functions celebrating her birthday.

The party, however, continued after they had left with a barbecue, which Janet said was nothing like our South African braai, but most enjoyable all the same.

Now for those links – the

‘The twins’ birthday is the same day as the queen’s (April 21)’

twins’ birthday is the same day as the queen’s (April 21), they grew up in Queenstown, lived in Sandringham (the name of another royal estate), attended Balmoral (the castle of the same name is the queen’s home in Scotland), then went to Girls’ High, which has St George’s Hall (St George is the patron saint of England), and if one goes into names, there are many that the two families share.

The twins live in the United Kingdom on an ancestral visa, as Ruth’s father was an Anglican clergyman ordained in Canterbury Cathedral, who came to South Africa in the 1930s.