Time slip

So there we were, crossing the road to begin our trek down London's Oxford Street, when there was a screech of sirens accompanied by blue flashing lights.

Police chasing bank robbers? Ambulances hurtling towards some terrible accident? No, the 21st century was making way for the 19th as police outriders led two horse-drawn carriages in the direction of Buckingham Palace.

The whole world stopped to watch the show, and cameras clicked all around us. But then the head-scratching started. Who were they?

After considerable research, my best guess is that the lady was Her Excellency Ana Albán Mora, originally a lawyer, who, in the words of the court circular, was presenting to the Queen 'the Letters of Recall of her predecessor and her own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Republic of Ecuador to the Court of St. James's'.

So now you know. Don't ask me about the chap in the hat!