The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Jubilee couples enjoy cuppa with the Queen
Royal: Tea and cake celebration of 60 years of togetherness
The Queen sat down to tea and cake yesterday with couples celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in the same year as her diamond jubilee.
On a visit to Bromley, in south- east London, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were also met by 6,000 schoolchildren waving flags.
Cyril a n d Ev e l y n Sergeant, both 86, got married on February 23 1952, and said meeting the Queen made their diamond anniversary even more special.
Mrs Sergeant, from Orpington, said she remembered travelling to London for the coronation as a newly-wed.
“I remember it was pouring with rain and I had a red coat on. When I got home the rain had left red marks on my clothes.
“Now it’s 60 years later. We have got good humour, that’s the key. We are always jokingandthatmakes the difference.”
Kenneth and Averil Holdaway, both 85, from Bromley, celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in August. Mrs Holdaway sat next to the Queen at the tea party and said: “It was an experience I will remember forever.”
Dressed in a baby blue wool crepe dress, boucle tweed coat and hat, the Queen also toured an exhibition about the history of fash ion and met schoolchildren who had designed an outfit for her.
Fiona Kurti, 11, from Burnt Ash primary school, designed the winning ensemble which was sewn by a professional seamstress.
The outfit comprised a pale blue coat with diamond decorations and a matching hat adorned with a feather and three smaller diamond shapes. Fiona said: “It is the diamond jubilee so I wanted something with diamonds.
“It took me quite a few days to design it because I wanted to make it perfect. I worked on it in playtime.”
The Queen and Duke of Edinburghlater bravedtorrential hail and rain to visit a jubilee event in Richmond Park and were treated to an excerpt from the ballet Swan Lake by students from the Royal Ballet School, which is based in Richmond Park.