Royal Visit

Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial “Chester Rock” you will be well aware of today’s Royal Visit to Chester today. Putting any thoughts of whether you are a Royalist or not to one side, this is a truly historic visit. The reason for the Royal Visit is the official opening of Chester’s cultural hub, Storyhouse. The opening will be carried out by the Queen herself and the Duchess of Sussex. In case you are not aware, the Duchess of Sussex until quite recently was better known as Meghan Markle.

Royal Visit

Royal Visit – Chester, 14th June 2018.

It is indeed an historic event as it represents the first official Royal engagement for Meghan Markle….er…I mean the Duchess of Sussex. The day’s events at the Storyhouse will be a celebration of a typical Thursday at the Storyhouse. Events and activities such as Scrabble clubs and Writing workshops meet the Theatre and Social isolation groups.

For those involved it promises to be a truly memorable day. Will I be involved?

As Chester’s premier…..cough…cough…splutter….splutter…blog owner surely I have been invited to a ringside seat? Alas, no such thing!! In the hope of being invited I already had the day planned. I bought some shoe polish just in case. And a comb. Never mind your champagne and cucumber sandwiches Queenie and Meghan (er, I mean Duchess of Sussex), what I had planned eclipses that.

How does a quick half of quality Otter bitter and a game of bagatelle in The Olde Cottage sound? Class that’s what that is!! Rest assured it would have been different. I am sure the Queen and the Duchess have never seen a day like it. And, just as importantly, would never see the like again either.

What about food? Don’t worry I had that covered as well. I saw Jacqui the barmaid load up with a brand new box of pork scratchings behind the bar the other day. A quality day missed out by our VIP guests. Their loss.

So, in reality what that means for me is “business as usual”

Who Is Involved?

Seriously though, a fabulous, never to be forgotten day for all those involved. The Queen and Duchess will visit a variety of community groups. So, if you are a member of the Scrabble Club, don’t forget to watch your “P’s” and Q’s”!!

Other groups enjoying a ‘typical’ Thursday include a Syrian Refugee Women’s Group and Fallen Angels Dance Company. These groups focus on craftwork and working with individuals recovering from addiction respectively.

And what about the schoolchildren? An absolutely mega day for them all round. Pupils from Kelsall Primary School, University Church Free School, Chester Bluecoat CE Primary School, Upton Westlea Primary School, St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, St Werburgh’s RC School, Newton Primary School, Dee Point Primary School and The King’s Junior School will perform songs alongside actors from “Swallows and Amazons”.

I’ll bet there’s a few nerves jangling this morning. Don’t worry kids. Just go for it!!

Police Community Officer, Eva Williams, will be storytelling to a group of under 5’s. Also, Erica Jones, from Deafness Support Network will sign a story in British Sign Language. Great stuff!!

The Storyhouse Young Leaders, a local 14-25 age group, will be also be there. This group works across the organisation to develop new skills. For the not so young, Digital Buddies, a free IT skills workshop and drop-in centre for the over 50’s will be present.

Unveiling

At the peak of the events, Her Majesty will unveil a plaque to mark the official opening of the Storyhouse. Before this unveiling they will also be opening the Mersey Gateway Bridge at Widnes.

After all this unveiling and visiting the various groups and organisations, it will be time for a bit of a nibble. Just a short walk then for the Queen and the Duchess to the Town Hall for a special lunch as guests of Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Maybe I should think of a Plan B if anything goes wrong with the lunch at the Town Hall?

I know, I’ll put a couple of halves of Otter in the tank and I’ll ask to have a couple of bags of (oh, what the hell…let’s push the boat out….4!!, yes 4!!) pork scratchings put to one side. I’ve heard the Queen doesn’t carry money around with her. So no worries there with the bagatelle. The bagatelle is free!!

For the life of me I can’t see why my series of events were not considered. Never mind, maybe next time.

Have a great and memorable day one and all. Truly a day to cherish.

For details of the event see this Chester Chronicle link HERE.

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