On the right, hidden behind a wall, is Marlborough House, home of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra when, as Prince of Wales, Edward led fashionable London society through the 'Naughty 90s'. A poignantly beautiful bronze memorial to Alexandra stands facing the Palace. It is reminiscent of a Pieta, and is an eloquent testament to the love that the people of the then British Empire had for the great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth.
Returning to The Mall the Diana plaques lead us west to Stable Yard Road, with its guarded entrance to Clarence House. During her long residence here The Queen Mother traditionally appeared outside the entrance each year on her birthday to greet her thousands of wellwishers. Princess Diana spent her wedding eve at Clarence House, watching the spectacular celebration firework display over Buckingham Palace with the Queen Mother from its windows.
We continued our walk on to Green Park and turned north into Queen's Walk towards Piccadilly. Here is London's finest row of Royal and noble mansions facing onto the Park. They include Lancaster House, built 1839 by Benjamin Wyatt for the Duke of York; Lord Ellesmere's Bridgewater House, built in 1849 by Houses of Parliament architect Sir Charles Barry. Here, also, stands Spencer House, the 1765 Palladian masterpiece built by John Vardy for Diana's forebear, the First Earl Spencer; surely one of the most beautiful buildings in London.
At the top of Queen's Walk, facing into Piccadilly, stands the Belle Epoque Ritz Hotel, patronised by Royalty and nobility since it opened in 1906 - and by my Lady and me for afternoon tea in the hotel's renowned Palm Court that afternoon!
If you start your walk in the morning, the Ritz is perhaps a convenient and elegant venue place to pause for lunch,(tel: 020 7493 8181 for bookings), as is Le Caprice Restaurant,(tel: 020 7629 2239), just around the corner from the side entrance of the Ritz in Arlington Street. Le Caprice has been a favoured Royal and show business luncheon rendezvous for 50 years. Diana was a frequent visitor.
