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News

TRH host a dinner for members of the Royal Family to celebrate The Queen's 80th birthday

20th April 2006

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall hosted a dinner at Kew Palace today for members of The Royal Family to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's 80th birthday.

The Prince of Wales also paid a personal tribute to The Queen in a televised message broadcast on radio and television. The dinner was held at the newly restored Kew Palace based in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was particularly beloved of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

The members of the Royal Family who attended the dinner were HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Prince Harry, The Duke of York with Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Rear Admiral Timothy Laurence with Peter and Zara Phillips, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy, Viscount and Viscountess Linley and The Lady Sarah Chatto and Mr Daniel Chatto.

The Queen's Drawing Room was used for pre-dinner drinks and the King's Dining Room was used for the dinner.

Seasonal flowers decorated the rooms including Narcissi from the Scilly Isles, tulips, Lily of the Valley and White Forget-me Nots.

There was also a selection of Handel's Water Music played by 12 musicians from the London Chamber Orchestra, of which The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron, under the direction of Christopher Warren Green.

Members of The Royal Family stood on the steps outside the front of Kew Palace to watch a firework display, which was set to music from the last 80 years.

The firework display was watched by an invited crowd of around 2,000 made up of friends of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, friends of Historic Royal Palaces, local residents and staff who work for The Queen and The Prince of Wales.

The fireworks were set to music from across the Queen‘s past eight decades, with the tunes including Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley, Glenn Miller‘s In the Mood and the rock group Queen‘s Don‘t Stop Me Now.

The musical soundtrack also included Diamonds Are Forever sung by Shirley Bassey, a rendition of All that Jazz and Bjork‘s It‘s So Quiet.

A finale of Rule Britannia, Sea Shanty and Land of Hope and Glory was all finished off with a rendition of Happy Birthday from the crowd.

The whole Royal family then joined in with the wellwishers who gave “three cheers for Her Majesty”.

Earlier The Queen was praised for her “remarkable steadfastness and fortitude” by The Prince, who paid a moving tribute to his mother.

The Prince described her as a “figure of reassuring calm and dependability” and wished her the “happiest of happy birthdays”.

In a broadcast to the nation on radio and television, he said: "There is no doubt that the world in which my mother grew up and, indeed, the world in which she first became Queen has changed beyond all recognition.

“But during all those years she has shown the most remarkable steadfastness and fortitude, always remaining a figure of reassuring calm and dependability - an example to so many of service, duty and devotion in a world of sometimes bewildering change and disorientation.”