I went to a garden party …
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2010 (5744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was a lifelong dream come true for Brandonite Kelly Lumbard — she got to curtsy for the Queen.
Lumbard and her husband, Wade, attended a garden party hosted in honour of Her Majesty on the grounds of Rideau Hall in Ottawa on June 30.
"She walked by me four times and I performed my well-polished curtsy four times," Lumbard said. "Finally she stopped and asked if I was from Ottawa. I replied, of course, that I was from Brandon, Manitoba. She said, ‘Oh Manitoba’s a lovely province’. I told her it was a complete honour and pleasure to meet her, and she smiled at me and walked away."
After discussing a Royal Canadian Armed Forces pin with a gentlemen standing beside Lumbard, the Duke of Edinburgh addressed her as well.
"Prince Philip turned to me and said, ‘Well you’re far too young to remember anything about WWII’, which I’m glad he recognized — I’d be upset if he didn’t," she laughed.
"He said he was having a lovely time being in Canada."
Lumbard also had an amusing encounter with the prime minister.
"I joshed with him, saying, ‘Mr. Harper, are you upset no one’s curtsying for you?’, to which he laughed and replied ‘it’s not really required for me’. I told him if he liked, I would curtsy for him and he said OK, so the woman beside me curtsied with me."
Lumbard said the garden party exceeded her expectations. Hors d’oeuvres, wine, and tea were served to the guests, who included politicians, military personnel and Canadians from across the country.
"It was fantastic. It was completely befitting of a Queen," she said.
"As a Canadian, I’m proud that we could do something like that for her."
Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Merv Tweed received the initial invite to Wednesday’s exclusive garden party with Her Majesty, but declined due to his extremely busy Canada Day schedule.
After learning of Lumbard’s childhood affection for the Royal Family, he thought there was no better candidate to take his place and represent the riding.
"We were asked by the Governor General’s office to submit names of people that we thought would appreciate and enjoy meeting the Queen … having met Kelly earlier and discovering her love and interest for the Queen, I thought it would be a nice fit to offer it to her," he said. "I have met the Queen … and I would love to meet the Queen again, but I think it’s always nice when somebody that really has a desire and a want to do that gets the opportunity."
Tweed is quick to point out that Lumbard’s husband, Wade, was able to snag an additional invite to the party only because there was low uptake in other constituencies across Canada and both paid their own way to and from Ottawa.
For Lumbard, the experience was one she’ll cherish forever.
"I don’t think anything in my life is going to equal this. It was right up there with my wedding and the birth of my children."
