January Highlights: Commemorative Stamps, Sales, Tate London
The rest of us must join the packed push-and-shove multitude in the last two days. The final hour on the last day is to the ardent gardener what Opening Day of the Harrods Sale, (January 2nd), is to the avid shopper: Bargain time! Exhibitors sell off the potted plants that made up their display. The late Duke of Windsor, is reputed to have bought an entire rockery exhibit one year when he was Prince of Wales, himself helping to dismantle it for transport to Belvedere, his home!
It is also time to book for the less prestigious but equally rewarding RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, (July). For RHS membership and details of these and other RHS events click to the Royal Horticultural Society or contact Miss Magee at the RHS, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PE. Tel: 020 7649 1885.
I recommend advance booking, (both tickets and accommodation), now via their websites for the following equestrian events:
Badminton Horse Trials (2-5 May) Box Office open 7 January.
Epsom Derby Day, (5 June). See website for Box Office details.
Royal Ascot, (18-22 June, Ladies Day 20 June). Box Office open from 2 January.
A Derby win has eluded The Queen all these years. Will she pull off this most prestigious flat race of all in her Jubilee Year? The Derby's one and a half mile course is a great test of a horse, (and rider). It entails an uphill and downhill gallop before the negotiation of the tight curve at Tattenham Corner, where many a favourite has come unstuck. A winning stallion can expect to be retired to make his owner a £.multi-million fortune in stud fees.
The Royal Ascot meeting will be held over five days for the first time since 1793 in celebration of the Queen's Jubilee. Heath Day Saturday will be replaced for the occasion with an enhanced day's racing and royal procession. Grandstand/Paddock tickets go on sale 2 January @ £49. Royal Enclosure applications must be supported by a sponsor who attended Royal Ascot in the Royal Enclosure for at least four years. The website has full details.
Applications for the few tickets, (maximum 2 per person), available to attend the Jubilee Year Household Guards Trooping the Colour on The Queen's Official Birthday Parade, (8 June), should be made now. Write to: The Ticket Office, Headquarters, Household Division, Horse Guards, London SW1A 2AX. Enclose s.a.e. Tel: 020 7414 2479. Fax:
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