Jewels

Apologies for being so behind - this is Tuesday’s entry! 

Inevitably there’s a slight feeling of anticlimax after yesterday, coupled with a glow of happiness that everything went so well - and thanks so much for all your kind words - I’ll get round to acknowledging them! But today’s our anniversary - 47 years! - so there’s another reason to celebrate, and we’re meeting up with the newlyweds this evening. 

Today we’re down to visit the V&A and the Cartier exhibition. The jewels are, of course, stunning, as is the workmanship, but I feel this isn’t quite as well set out as previous exhibitions. It’s very busy - sold out in fact - and with people standing at each item for so long, progress around the exhibits is frustrating.  At least I’m relatively tall and can see through the throngs. My favourite section is where many of the tiaras are displayed in glass cases which can be viewed from all sides, and it’s these I really enjoy photographing.  

We also visit the Design and Disability exhibition - unsurprisingly completely different, but very interesting.

We have an anniversary lunch in the Members Room, celebrating with a glass of Chapel Down Brut - every bit as good as champagne I feel. 

We walk back through Hyde Park, and actually manage an hour or so resting! And I really need it! Tonight we’re out again - this time it’s The Proms at The Royal Albert Hall. I’ve booked a table in the basement Kensington Gardens bar and restaurant and it’s very pleasant - not gourmet but good, and we can return here in the interval to preordered drinks - always a bonus. 

This is far from an ‘ordinary’ Prom; this is the French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf who mixes Middle Eastern melodies with jazz, Latin and African rhythms, and the Pakistani-American singer Arooj Atfab who performs a blend of jazz, folk, pop, blues and South Asian classical music - all accompanied by by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It’s a fabulous evening! 

Then it’s time to say goodbye to the happy couple and wish them well for their Canadian honeymoon. We probably won’t see them again until Christmas. 

Tomorrow we go home ….. 

My main today is a Sun Tiara  from 1907 with a 32.58 carat fancy intense yellow diamond!  In extras there’s a collage of some of the exquisite pieces in the exhibition, and another tiara.