nuts for royalty!
When my friend Cheryl and I found out that Macy’s
was hosting Sarah, the Dutchess of York,
in a meet and greet back in 2001
We Had to Go!!!
I am not a royalty snob but I followed
Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mum,
Prince Charles and the whole crew
back then
buying and collecting
People and Majesty magazines
whenever they had
Princess Di
on the cover.
She was my age and generation,
after all…
😉
I, like many of you, was devastated when
Princess Diana
was killed in that terrible auto accident in France.
I had seen her wedding to Prince Charles
when I was 19 years old
and in Germany on an
exchange program.
on a Saturday afternoon,
the family let me take over the television and
stare dreamily at the screen as Diana,
shy and beautiful in her voluminous gown and
sparkling from the camera lights
bouncing off the pearls and diamonds
in her tiara,
she married her prince.
***
Flash forward to 2001…
Meeting the Duchess was like getting to meet
Princess Diana for me…
She was wonderful!
Gracious and funny, Sarah Ferguson
gave a talk about taking a china tea service
wherever she goes
as she really dislikes taking tea
in a styrofoam cup!
(Her lady in waiting would prepare tea for her
when there wasn’t a nice tea service around.)
She and the representative from Wedgwood
showed us all how strong their bone china is ~
that you can quite literally flip a teacup over
and stand on it!
It will not break.
It was really cool when the man did that.
Everyone seemed quite impressed!
Has something to do with the way the cup is shaped,
and the strength of bone china.
We still were impressed!
Having the same first name as the first Duchess of York
was one of the reasons Wedgwood asked Sarah to be
their spokesperson and to help introduce and promote
this ethereal line of botanical china.
Personally, I love the realistic look of the
fruits and flowers, butterflies and bees!
Soooo cute!
I use this china a lot at my teas. The salad plates are
standards in my cupboard for serving cake, muffins, whatever!
They are used daily.
The teacups come out when I want to visit with
one friend and have a
heart to heart.
🙂
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| Pumpkin scented candles ~ replacing some of my usual vanilla ones. These are my favorite candleholders! My friend Kathy gave me the front-left, cream-colored one with the roses and tied tassels. The others I have found in various shops like Tuesday Morning and Home Goods. |
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| Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, signed three pieces of china for me: this large serving tray, the teapot, and another tray. Wedgwood uses a technique involving vodka to loosen up the glazing. Once loose, one can “write” on china with a certain type of pen, then each piece has to cure for a month or so to “harden.” |
🙂
This week we are having super hot days ~ over
in the rain with the weather slightly cooled
and have a nice cup of hot tea!
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| An ethereal piece ~ so lovely!
I am looking forward to many more fall days with tea and teacups, and you know Sarah’s Garden
~ As always, please feel free to “Re-post,” “Share,” and “Pin” from my blog, thanks!!! ~
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Happy tea to you all!
2 thoughts on “Tea with the Duchess”