Shluchim Attend Queen’s Party

Rabbi Yoinosson and Faige Rochel Golomb – Shluchim to Sheffield, England – and their daughter Hindy were guests of Her Majesty The Queen at the first of this summer’s garden parties.

The Queen hosts several of these parties at Buckingham Palace in London each summer to honor prominent members of the British community.

Rebbetzin Golomb received a phone call from the office of the Lord Lieutenant, who is the county’s Queen’s representative, telling her that they had been nominated and asking her if she would be interested.

“At first she thought someone was playing a practical joke,” Rabbi Golomb told COLlive, “but after double checking the website and cross questioning the office it became clear that the invitation was genuine.”

She chose from three dates and several weeks later an official invitation was received from the Queen’s Lord Chamberlain.

On the day of the party, guests arrived at the palace and the gates opened at 2:30pm for the thousands to enter. They are directed through the palace and out onto the lawns. Several tents were set up, one for the Queen and special guests a second for diplomatic guests and the third served food and drink to the public.

At exactly 4:00pm the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh came out onto the steps which lead down to the lawns. The Band present played the national anthem after which the Queen and the Duke came down the steps and mingled with the guests.

Other members of the royal family were present including the Queen’s cousin Prince Michael of Kent, The Duke of Gloucester and the Queens granddaughter Princess Beatrice.

The entire occasion had a royal atmosphere, enhanced no doubt when Rabbi Golomb found a garden chair, took out a Dvar Malchus and learned the real “royal word.”