Wednesday 14th December 2022
One week it was The Messiah at Sa Paulo di Londra, the next Winter Wonderland… My friend Miss Carlisle sings in the choir at San Paulo for The Messiah and kindly gave tickets. Afterwards, Royston King said, ‘Do you think Handel was Gay?. He was a big beefy chap, after all.’ Miss Carlisle stood up well to this in Pizza Express as well as other statements. She had Royston all the way home as it happened, their residences being proximate, and was thrilled with him.
The Messiah in San Paolo di Londra… I said, ‘This cathedral is so foreign in feel.’ Royston said, ‘Not a bit of it. It’s the only purely Anglican cathedral.’ The Messiah kind of shimmers and trembles under the dome. It’s the echo really but magical all the same.
Next week it was Winter Wonderland. The Royal Parks have a delightful village hall type of party at the Venue in Hyde Park. One is reminded of Her going to the WI at Sandringham. Red Christmas napkins in paper, mulled wine, a cheese board, sausage rolls and other pastries. The former Leader of Greenwich Council was full of the Funeral. It was the main topic really. I couldn’t believe it. All these weeks later. But there was also looking forward to the Coronation. The member of the Royal Household present and the Civil Servant from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are huge leaders in planning it. The Queen is considering crowns, as we speak. It was absolutely finger on the pulse, in at the core, totally central – as a party.
We got a free ride on the Big Wheel. This time, unlike last year, Royston managed to VIP the queue out of the way. It’s lovely to ride round on the Wheel. One has no idea where one is except in a bizarre neon toy world. Then we went in the ice show. Last year somebody broke one of the ice sculptures trying to take a selfie. You’re not supposed to go near them, of course. The whole thing is really hateful, being exactly what Death will be like, i.e. minus 3 degrees, and everything frozen and dead.