Off to London to see the Queen!

Last full day in London today so with Uncle Barry the family headed off to St James Park. As luck would have it our arrival coincided with the royal procession for the Queen's opening of Parliament and we wandered up to Pall Mall just in time for all the action. Situated opposite the band we were treated to James Bond theme tunes while we waited for the Queen - it couldn't have been better. This year was the first where the Prince of Wales joined the Queen at the opening so we saw Charles and Camilla cruise by too. Master Reid had the park's squirrels well trained to eat out of his hand on the way back. We also caught the tail end of a 41 gun salute in the park as well. the boy was in heaven given his fasciation with the Household cavalry and artillery. He and his grandmother then headed off to view the Churchill War rooms while Mrs Reid and I enjoyed lunch near Charing Cross before heading home. This was a great day given the parade, music and cannons were a completely unexpected bonus which we wandered into at precisely the right time. To think we had been considering foregoing the trip in case the Queen's procession caused too many crowds.