December 4th 2014
In aid of the work of The Georgian Group and The Seven Dials Trust
Millicent Binks performs the Dance of Birdcage Walk
On December 4th Queen Anne's Gate was en fete and transported back through the centuries to the Courts of the Four Georges. One hundred and fifty magnificently dressed revellers descended on this private London palace for a truly memorable and fantastic evening.
Guests were welcomed by liveried footman in to the candlelit stone hall of the house. A Georgian wench was there to beg for money for raffle tickets, which helped to raise a large amount for the charities, including over two thousand pounds for SAVE's Wentworth Woodhouse appeal (http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/news/campaign.php?id=327).
Composer and musician Toni Castells chats with Millicent Binks
Guests were treated to sumptuous canapés by Lucy the Cook and the delicious champagne was part sponsored by Frerejean Freres. All the while guests were serenaded by violin and serpent...
Elisabeth Stoppard of the Bonsall Field Barn Project
The guest list was as varied as the costumes - architects, painters, dancers, musicians, city slickers, shoemakers, cake makers and foodies...to name just a few
Actress Rosie Pearson gets in to character for Sophia Dorothea of Celle
And here is Susie Ashfield as Caroline of Ansbach...
The Courts of George I,II,III and IV came alive for a few dizzying moments!
Diana Parkin, Oliver Gerrish and Zuleika Parkin
Sarah Watkinson-Yull of Yull Shoes
Guy Hills of Dashing Tweeds
Colin David of Helen and Colin David
Author Lady Colin Campbell
While Kings and Queens laughed, bickered and brawled in the Saloon The Covent Garden Minuet Company held court in the Chinese Room...
Photographer Tom Medwell
The great buffet table
Zuleika Parkin and Sadie Samuels put together a marvellous Auction and Raffle, which raised nearly £4000 for The Georgian Group and The Seven Dials Trust - The Young Georgians, on behalf of The Georgian Group, have given over two thousand pounds to SAVE's Wentworth Woodhouse campaign.
An operatic interlude was provided by New Georgian Opera
Nicky Haslam
Dr John Martin Robinson
The magic was all too brief and time ran...guests left the flickering, diamond sparkling light of Queen Anne's Gate by the light of the moon as they journeyed back to the Twenty-First Century...
The Ball ended 2014, the momentous three hundredth anniversary year of the Hanoverian dynasty, with a really joyous bang and showed the Georgians and the work of The Georgian Group are as relevant and popular as ever.
I would like to personally thank all the amazing Ball Committee, especially Zuleika Parkin (without whom the party would not have happened) and Sadie Samuels.
On behalf of The Georgian Group I would like to heartily thank the following for their hugely generous contributions to the Raffle, Auction and Ball:-
Anne Rainy-Brown, The Antique Jewellery Company, Aspinal of London, The British Museum, Chelsea Battersea Pilates Studio, Christopher Brown, The Cumbrian Sausage Comoany, Dashing Tweeds, Exmoor Ales Brewery, Fortnum & Mason, Frerejean Freres Champagne, Guy&Max, Helen and Colin David, Holland & Holland, John Martin Robinson, Le Clervaux Boutique & Design Hotel, Lisa Lensing, Lucy the Cook, Luxembourg National Tourist office, Melanie Doderer-Winkler, New Georgian Opera, Oliver Brown, Pamela Anne Myers, Paul Doyle and Gargely Battha-Pajor, The St James Theatre, Steffny's Cadeaux Antiques, Yull Shoes and Zuleika Parkin.
The photographs in this blog were taken by Tom Medwell. Please ask before you use any of them, thank you
