Guests left reeling after floor splits at royal ball

THE Royal Caledonian Ball is a jewel in the London society calendar that draws Royals and the cream of Scotland’s aristocracy. But the exclusive £265-a-ticket Scottish dancing event descended into farce on Friday night after the dance floor fell apart.

Organisers of the ball’s 170th anniversary were forced to send revellers home for health and safety reasons after a crevice opened up between the floor panels.

The debacle is particularly embarrassing as the Royal Caledonian charity is patronised by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Kent. It means the charities who benefit from the night will lose out on thousands of pounds if partygoers demand refunds.

The 700 guests danced just two of the 15 dances before the party, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, was called off. They stood around waiting for 45 minutes, as the committee considered what to do, with many leaving in frustration.

Matthew Kilcoyne, head of communications at the Adam Smith Institute, who was at the ball, said: ‘We did the first two dances and, just before the Eightsome reel, the floor came apart. They said it was unsafe to carry on dancing. A guy came in with a massive hammer and tried to bash it back together.’

The organisers apparently failed to predict the problem caused by the large number of dancers and that the floor panels were laid on carpet.

John Shields, chairman of the Royal Caledonian Charities Trust, said: ‘In another era, we might have had an heroic story to tell of how guests in Highland dress, tailcoats and regimentals pulled together and helped remove the floor at lightening speed to rescue the evening.

‘But sadly we do not live in such times, and generous offers of assistance came up against the inevitable wall of health and safety policy.’ Or rather floor.