Snacks hidden in handbags

EILEEN Parker, above, the wife of Prince Philip’s Private Secretary, Commander Michael Parker, recalled being ‘in place’ by 7am. ‘There was a great deal of discreet nibbling,’ she said. ‘Duchesses with hard-boiled eggs, baronesses with dainty, stamp-sized sandwiches, and everybody with hipflasks. A small tube of Horlicks tablets was tucked away in my own handbag.’