Top tip from Queen’s party planner: Sit bores together
IN 50 years of planning parties for the Queen, she’s enjoyed the company of some of the world’s most interesting and influential guests.
But when it comes to those whose conversational skills may be somewhat lacking, Lady Elizabeth Anson has one rule – sit them all together.
The veteran event planner claims that this way, boring guests won’t realise they are dull – nor will they ruin the fun of those who possess more sparkling wit.
Among her other hints for the perfect party is that interesting guests trump fine food – and that sausages and mash can sometimes be just as good as caviar.
In an interview with the New York Times, Lady Elizabeth spoke with rare candour about a business which normally relies on strict discretion.
She revealed her codename for the Queen when organising events is Shirley Temple – although she could not remember why she decided on the former child star.
She also claimed the Queen thinks her own grandchildren do not know how to talk to one other at dinner – because they are used to interrupting the meal by serving themselves and cleaning up as they do not have as many staff.
Lady Elizabeth, 74, is the sister of late photographer Lord Lichfield and a cousin of the Queen. She has organised hundreds of events for Buckingham Palace, including Her Majesty’s 90th birthday celebrations last week. Lady Elizabeth has also hosted events for the late Queen Mother – her first ever party was for one of her godchildren.
Since then, her events have included a disco for a teenage Prince Charles and a party for the Rolling Stones – which ended with police turning up as guests drunkenly threw unopened bottles of Dom Perignon into the Thames.
Lady Elizabeth, who also advised on the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, said the invitation sets the tone for a whole event. She claimed a client once wanted her to use ‘save the date’ notes with Swarovski crystals costing £2,500 a card, but she dismissed this as ‘vulgarity’.
Yet if the invitation is cheap, guests will ‘imagine there’s going to be acidic wine and miserable food,’ she added. Lady Elizabeth advised that when it comes to boring guests, put them all at the same table because ‘they don’t realise they’re the bores, and they’re happy ... it’s my biggest tip’.
She added: ‘A party with good table wine and good pasta or good sausages and mash can be just as much of a success as one with Krug [champagne], caviar, oysters and lobster. It’s not about expensive ingredients. It’s about people.’
When it comes to wrapping things up, she advised that the host should call time with 20 guests left on the dance floor. ‘If you let it peter out, it’s death,’ she said. ‘I made one mistake in the whole of my career, which was being persuaded to restart the band. It was a flop.’
Lady Elizabeth described Her Majesty as a ‘meticulous hostess’. But she said the Queen has concerns about her grandchildren when it comes to dinner parties.
Lady Elizabeth said: ‘She (the Queen) said to me that she found it really difficult because they didn’t really know how to talk to each other. And she said, “I suppose it’s because they’re always getting up and down and helping somebody and putting something in a dishwasher or whatever they’re doing, because they don’t have enough staff”.’