Dan gets Gold
Recently I went to London to collect my Duke of Edinburgh Award from His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh at St James Palace. It was raining on Thursday afternoon on the 8th May. I spoke to Prince Philip briefly about our adventures and our experiences we had and about the paintings and my adventures in the field of living history. I loved his sense of humour. I got to speak to the main guy called Phil Brown who runs and organises the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award advents and told them about the three paintings. One was a portrait of King George IV from 1820 to 1830 and the other two paintings were the battles of Vitoria and Waterloo. I told them that I was at the enactments of both battles in recent years with the 68th Durham Light Infantry.
I was in the main Throne Room to wait for His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to arrive. I thought the room was the best room of all in the palace with the wonderful ceiling and the throne, itself the oldest in the realm. The walls had elegant carvings and filigree with gold leaf on the wood panels. The carpet was lovely royal blood red and this room is where world leaders of high importance come such as Nelson Mandela.
I then left the Palace and on my way out they offered me a post as a Volunteer Guide for the next Duke of Edinburgh Awards. I will talk to visitors about the weaponry and paintings in the hallway and tea rooms, I loved it so much it was great!!
Daniel Hudson