Monday 27th October 2008
We've been invited to a reception at the British Embassy.
Actually, we have been informed we must attend.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are coming for a visit. There is a huge amount of excitement amongst the Japanese members of staff. They adore royalty and cannot believe they may actually meet them. The Emperor and Empress of Japan never, ever meet their people but just wave a couple of times a year from behind glass.
We are drilled on how to greet them – to Charles, "Your Royal Highness" first and then "Sir" thereafter, and to Camilla "Your Royal Highness", then "Ma'am". We can curtsey or bow if we wish...
We arrive on time, to a mass of extremely enthusiastic people – many of whom, in a different environment would probably claim to be republican, but are clearly not. We're given a quick briefing and a limited amount of alcohol. Well, it wouldn't do to be pissed when they arrive, would it?! And then we wait. And wait. Their plane is late arriving.
Suddenly there's a buzz and we are all herded into a large room and curtained off from the reception hallway. There are about 200 of us in all. And we wait some more.
And then the curtains are opened and the Ambassador ushers Charles and Camilla in. Charles takes one side of the semi-circle of people while Camilla starts at the other end. All the Japanese people bowed extremely low and long, and some of the ladies tried a curtsey. I was most impressed by our Ambassador – he knew everyone's names, not just his staff, but their spouse's too. We were all introduced individually.
Tim had a long chat with HRH about his (Tim's) work and then Charles turned to me. I completely forgot the official greeting and, to the rolled eyes of the Ambassador, said a cheery "Hi!" to The Prince of Wales and shook his proffered hand. His handshake is firm and confident. He asked what I did, and I replied "I look after him" nodding at Tim. He laughed and said I had a very important job, that he liked my hair and then spent a good few minutes talking to me in a very natural, pertinent and self-possessed manner. I liked him immensely.
Camilla was wearing a powder-blue outfit which suited her very well. She's far more attractive in real life than in photographs, but she was obviously exhausted and basically rolled out the same phrase to everyone she met.
Unfortunately, the official photographer didn't turn up for some reason, so there is only a snapshot of the occasion.
