The Queen's Houses by Alan Titchmarsh

Author:Alan Titchmarsh [Titchmarsh, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Great Britain, Nonfiction, Retail, Royalty
ISBN: 9781849902175
Google: w_-qBAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00O30HI4Y
Publisher: BBC Digital
Published: 2014-10-09T04:00:00+00:00

At Buckingham Palace, with the tablecloths laid the table settings can begin. The setting out of the table usually begins two full days before the banquet. The first to be set out are the table napkins embroidered with The Queen’s monogram, folded into a Dutch-bonnet style by the Yeoman of the China and Glass Pantries. Candelabra holding over 100 ivory candles a foot high are placed at intervals, each candle topped with a miniature shade. They rest on mirrored stands, which reflect the candlelight and the gleam of gilt plate from the table settings. The very grandest, richly chased silver-gilt candelabra, depicting sculpted figures enacting stories from mythology, stand over 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall and hold 12 candles each. They are, like so many of the treasures on display, part of George IV’s Grand Service of banqueting plate and cost nearly £3400 each in the early nineteenth century (approx. £240,000 today), a staggering sum. They are placed on either side of the ‘top’ table, just as it intersects with the two arms extending down the room. Over 30 flower arrangements take the royal florist and a team of arrangers the best part of 36 hours to create and are displayed on the tables and around the rooms. The flowers used for the Obama visit were predominantly roses, then in season, and the heady scent of their perfume permeated the air throughout the banquet.

The table setting and menu for the state banquet celebrating the French state visit in 1996

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