I was a guest of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh at St. James’ Palace – at my elder daughter,
Eleanor’s D of E Gold Award presentation.
Eleanor travelled from Leeds, I caught the train from Birmingham and we met for lunch at Victoria before strolling over to our appointment at the palace (via Fortnum and Mason, where I ogled some beautiful but exorbitantly priced leather-bound notebooks).
Once inside the palace the young people were drilled in how to stand in horse-shoe formation in groups of 30 for meeting the Duke. Whilst waiting for him to arrive, Phil Brown gave an interesting and motivational talk on his experiences in the 4×4 relay team in the 1984 Olympic Games.
Then it was the moment we’d been waiting for – Prince Philip’s arrival. He spent some time chatting with each of the ‘horse-shoe’ groups plus any of the parents he spotted wearing a Gold Award badge from their youth. Then the certificates were presented (unfortunately not by the Prince) and it was a proud moment when Eleanor’s name was called.
Eleanor is continuing the expedition skills she learned during her D of E time by tackling the 3 Peaks Challenge (climbing Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike within 24 hours) in May in order to raise money for ShelterBox, which delivers emergency shelter to people made homeless worldwide by disaster. Her target is to raise £250 and she’s launched a fundraising page to supplement the cake sales and tin shaking she’s been doing at university. Please take a look at her page and sponsor her for this worthy cause if you possibly can. As they say, every little helps!
And that’s enough showing-off by a proud mum – next post we’ll be back to work and the subject of writing.
Sally Jenkins 
#1 by susanjanejones on April 2, 2012 - 4:52 pm
Ah, Sally, how lovely she looks. You must have been bursting with pride, and well deserved. Good luck to her with the mountain climbs, wears me out at the thought of it, but she’ll do it no problem.
#2 by blogaboutwriting on April 2, 2012 - 7:21 pm
Ah, that’s lovely Sally. And why shouldn’t you have a proud moment on your blog?! I enjoyed reading the piece – and it’s a great photo of your daughter too. Well done to her – and to you! You might even get an idea for a story – or an article from it…!?
#3 by Sally Jenkins on April 2, 2012 - 7:43 pm
Susan – thanks very much for the good wishes. I’m worn out just thinking about it too!
Helen – I’ll get brainstorming some ideas – and many thanks for the sponsorship!
#4 by Patsy Collins on April 2, 2012 - 8:49 pm
It’s nice that you’re proud of her – and that she’s given you good reason to feel that way.
#5 by Vikki (The View Outside) on April 3, 2012 - 6:47 am
Awwwwww brilliant!!!!!
I’d be proud too 🙂
xx
#6 by Keith Havers on April 3, 2012 - 8:34 am
Congratulations, Sally, and well done to your daughter.
#7 by Sally Jenkins on April 3, 2012 - 9:32 am
Patsy, Vikki & Keith – many thanks for your kind words and letting me indulge!
#8 by Debbie on April 3, 2012 - 7:25 pm
That’s lovely sally. You must be so proud of her. Congratulations to you both!
#9 by Sally Jenkins on April 4, 2012 - 12:01 pm
Thanks, Debbie!
#10 by Maxi on April 4, 2012 - 4:53 pm
Excellent! Congratulations to both of you – great achievement!
#11 by Anne Harvey on April 5, 2012 - 7:12 pm
How lovely Sally, what a proud moment for you and your daughter.