London, 4 April 2012

Cecil Beaton's "Family" Portraits

 Today has brought fine weather albeit cold. There is snow in the north of the country. The daffodils are gone now in London, but the news on BBC 1 tells us that in the summer temperatures of last week the bluebells bloomed in Kew Gardens and that was the earliest they had ever done so. If this was a result of global warming, with the temperature today we could have used some of it. Today was a day for museums and galleries.

We started at the Victoria and Albert where, ever the staunch monarchist, Virginia wanted to see the special exhibition of Cecil Beaton's portraits of the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. They were actually quite interesting, particularly the commentary by Beaton about his relationships with his subjects.

The Famous 1968 Portrait by Beaton

I love the V and A.  It is, in the best sense, the everyman's museum.  Here on can find all sorts of things from all over the Empire.  Much of it is magnificent and much of it should have been consigned to the Imperial scrap heap years ago.

The 19th C. William Morris Lunch Room

From there it was on to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.  One of the most interesting things to see in Trafalgar Square is a changing outdoor exhibition.  Last year it was a large ship in a bottle.  This year it is a boy on a rocking horse.

Powerless Structures, Figure 101

There seems to be a good deal of work going on here and hopefully it is all involved in getting ready for the big events later this year. Having been in London for the Royal Wedding last April, we find the city lacking the "sharpness" that characterised it then. Even the pavement markers installed for the Queen's Jubilee don't seem to help.

There's no hype, no edge here. In addition we found the Buckingham Palace gift shop something of a disappointment. For example the official Jubilee mug was hardly inspiring in design as well as being quite costly (35 pounds). It would have been much more attractive had the winning design of the Diamond Jubilee emblem appeared on the mug. This design, seen below, was the winner of a national competition for children aged between 6 and 14. It was designed by 10-year-old Katherine Dewar, from Chester.

An afternoon visit to Marks and Spencer was much more rewarding. It is interesting that the larger population of Great Britain means that the range of sizes in clothing is wider than in Australia. Here, I can get trousers that don't need to be taken up whereas at home, as far as leg length is concerned it is "one length fits all." The day concluded with a later afternoon walk in Hyde Park, taking time to admire the newly awakened squirrels searching frantically for food. Health professionals please note: we did more than our 10,000 steps today!