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Published:
6:00 AM June 1, 2022
For many people, Sidmouth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations will be the highlight of the year. But for one local woman, they will be the second big Royal event in just over two weeks.
Former dressmaker to the Queen, Norma Hoare, attended a Buckingham Palace garden party on Wednesday, May 18, where she renewed her acquaintance with Princess Alexandra.
As a young woman Mrs Hoare worked for the famous royal dressmaker Norman Hartnell, making frocks for the Queen, Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Princess Alexandra.
Norma, third from the left, with the team that made Princess Margaret’s wedding dress
– Credit: Norma Hoare
The photo of Princess Alexandra in Norma’s scrapbook that she showed at the Royal Garden Party
– Credit: Norma Hoare
She has kept a scrapbook of photos and press cuttings from those days, and had the chance to show it to Princess Alexandra at the garden party.
The May 18 event was third time lucky for Mrs Hoare. She had been invited to a Royal Garden Party in 2019, but was unable to attend because of a foot operation. She was invited again in 2020, but the party was cancelled because of Covid – so she held her own garden party in Sidmouth with a cardboard cut-out of the Queen.
This year, because of the Queen’s mobility problems, other members of the Royal Family are standing in to host the parties. On May 18 the royals present were the Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex; and Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin.
Mrs Hoare, who also has mobility problems, said: “It was absolutely amazing. I saw the royals coming down the back steps of the palace, and along was a gravel path about five deep with people on either side, and I thought ‘I can’t cope with that’, so I found a space and sat down. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes, Princess Alexandra was walking past me, and my daughter Marian said, ‘I’m going to ask if you can go and talk to her’.
“The Princess spoke to me and I got my scrapbook out and showed her the dress I made for her when she was in Australia and she was carrying a koala bear. That made the day.
“She said ‘how did you smuggle in your scrapbook?’ I don’t know how – the police did look inside my bag but they didn’t seem to think that was dangerous.”
“It was so lovely to meet her. She is such a humble, beautiful lady, Alexandra is.”
Mrs Hoare added she was going to have a small Platinum Jubilee party in Sidmouth with her two daughters, but she would not be able to attend the street party in the town centre.
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