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Wrexham Council are, as is usual, sending representatives to a Royal Garden Party this year – but only two.
Over the course of each year, The Queen welcomes over 30,000 guests to spend a “relaxed summer afternoon in the beautiful gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse”, as they are “…an important way for The Queen to speak to a broad range of people from all walks of life, all of whom have made a positive impact in their community”.
The Local Government Association is allocated a number of tickets to Royal Garden Parties, and they then sub allocate them based on the population of member areas.
Wrexham usually gets four tickets, which has historically meant the Mayor/Mayoress along with a ‘plus one’ would attend along with another two people – usually a nominated councillor and their spouse/partner.
This year councillors have been told of cuts to invites, with the news “the Palace has allocated significantly fewer places to Local Authorities”.
The current Mayor and Mayoress were due to attend a Royal Garden Party in 2020 however that was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, “The Royal Garden Parties also did not take place in 2021 due to the ongoing uncertainty around the public health situation”.
Then councillor Andrew Atkinson ‘and guest’ were also due to attend in 2020, but with the shortage of tickets and the fact he is in Panama, he will miss the opportunity of a third attempt at the party.
Pre-pandemic we asked both the Mayor and then Cllr Atkinson if they will be taking up the invite, and the now traditional query at what level of UK and Welsh democracy they believe hereditary roles are inappropriate (We gave examples of hereditary Police and Crime Commissioners, or hereditary Council Leaders or Community Councillors!). Both indicated attendance but did not tackle the question of hereditary roles.
The official Garden Party page on the Royal.UK website has not been updated, as it still states none will take place ‘this year’ and other out of date references and although the attendees change the common dress code likely has not, “For a Garden Party, gentlemen wear morning dress or lounge suits, while women wear day dress, usually with hats or fascinators. National dress and uniform are also often worn.”
Locally the council state, “All the expenses associated with this visit will be met from the Civic Expenses and Members’ expenses budget.”
Previously in the Sovereign Grant accounts PDF for 2014-15 indicated around £2.1m is spent every year holding the Garden Party events, up £300k from 2012 – however there is no clear split in the most recent figures.
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