Love was most certainly in the air for our charity on Thursday 14 February 2019 when 150 of the charity’s supporters, benefactors, fundraisers and volunteer London licensed taxi drivers made their merry way to Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall.
As the attendees gathered outside the large black gates of Buckingham Palace, it seemed almost unreal that we would soon be inside the headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom, talking to Her Royal Highness.
Once we had all gone through vigorous security checks, we were ushered into the quadrangle where 6 London licensed taxis had been lined up for the royal photo shoot; it was a fantastic sight to behold!
The guests were taken into the grand reception room, after having their coats checked into the cloakroom and their phones removed, and soon set their eyes upon the delightful array of royal sandwiches and cakes that were laid out for the reception. Our committee members lined up in front of the London licensed taxis and awaited the arrival of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall who entered the quadrangle in a low emission London taxi.
Upon arrival, The Duchess of Cornwall gracefully exited the London licensed taxi and made her way over to the committee members to shake hands and speak to each and every one of them.
Watch the video of Her Royal Highness greeting the LTCFC committee members
Then it was time for the photo shoot.
Once the photos had been taken, Her Royal Highness made her way into the Palace where she was introduced by our Hon. Chairman, Michael Son BEM, to the charity’s guests to talk about the wonderful work that we do.
After all the introductions, it was time for our Hon. Chairman to make a speech and talk about the major changes that the charity had gone through over the past year, including a new website by Relyable, a rebrand by Pentagram and new liveried taxis courtesy of Ubiquitous Taxis.
Watch our Hon. Chairman’s Speech
Her Royal Highness concluded the afternoon by telling us that it was the first time she had been in a taxi for a very long time and regaled a very funny story of the time when once in a London licensed taxi, long before Her Royal Highness was married, the London licensed taxi driver did not realise who he had in the back of his taxi and asked her what she thought about herself. The Duchess of Cornwall added ‘he was awfully charming and I gave him a huge tip.’
Watch Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall’s speech
We were all most certainly charmed by Her Royal Highness, whose parting words were that she was ‘very proud’ to be our patron.
It was an absolutely fantastic day and no doubt, after the reception had finished, Her Royal Highness was off to the next royal appointment, or maybe, she was going home to put her feet up and have a nice cup of tea with her husband, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.
The Hon. Chairman and committee would like to thank all of our supporters, benefactors, fundraisers and volunteer London licensed taxi drivers who are instrumental to what we do, the staff involved for their royal hospitality, and of course, last but not least, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, for making the day so special and unforgettable!