Oh, What a Perfect Day!

The garden party celebrating the 150th anniversary of The Royal Kennel Club at Buckingham Palace, London, on Wednesday, May 24,, has been seen as a resounding success by members and guest alike, with social media awash with compliments and excited comments. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester hosted this special occasion, and, again, social media was filled with photos of happy attendees pictured in glorious sunshine in London … Many with splendid headwear!

The Duke and Duchess were joined at the event by Prince Michael of Kent, who is president of the club and of course a member himself. Both sets of royals met some of the many guests and service dogs who had made their way to Buckingham Palace.

Prince Michael with Tony Allcock, chairman of The Royal Kennel Club.

The late Queen, an ardent dog lover, was patron of the organization for 70 years. Garden parties have been held at Buckingham Palace since the 1860s, when Queen Victoria began what were known as “breakfasts,” although they took place in the afternoon.

There were more 2,100 members, past chairmen, board members and a variety of guests in attendance, and the Duke and Duchess welcomed guests from all over the world, including Kennel Club members, their guests, staff, welfare organizations and volunteers. The weather was perfect for the occasion, and everyone attending the event said it was definitely a day they will remember. Music played, there was an element of typical colorful British pageantry with the Yeoman and Sergeants at Arms, and folk strolled around the magnificent gardens and lakeside in the “back garden” of the palace!  Plus, lots of tea and cake served in covered marquees for the guests seated on the lawns.

Dinky Santos, FCI A20 Section president, pictured with his wife Trish and one of the Yeoman of the Guard.

The Kennel Club was founded on April 4, 1873. Mr. Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, MP, founded the club with 12 other men. The purpose of The Kennel Club was to have a consistent set of rules for governing the popular new activities of dog showing and field trials. It was the first national kennel club in the world. As the club officially celebrated its 150th anniversary on April 4, King Charles confirmed the club with a Royal prefix — and it is now known as The Royal Kennel Club.

Comments

Many of the members and guests took to social media to share thousands of photos from the day. Very soon after the event, many positive comments started to appear online.

Just before the opening of the gates …

Sarah White, Agria Insurance breeder manager, said, “I had the most wonderful time at Buckingham Palace celebrating The Royal Kennel Club. Spent with wonderful company, in beautiful surroundings, fantastic sunshine on the most amazing day! It was lovely to see so many familiar faces all looking very swish. Gutted to have somehow missed so many people, though.”

That was a familiar story, as it was hard to see everyone in the crowd of more than 2,000 people.

What a day for a garden party!

Members and guests were unanimous in their praise, taking to social media to say, “What a great day — thank you to TRKC for organizing such a wonderful event,” while another said, “What an amazing day we had at the Buckingham Palace with The Royal Kennel Club. Thank you to all who were involved in putting on this garden party, one we will treasure for many years to come.”

FCI President Tamas Jakkel attended with Barbara Muller, treasurer of the FCI.

Brian Harris, president of the New Zealand Kennel Club, attended and enjoyed the event with his wife Louise and simply said: "A once-in-a-lifetime experience that I cannot thank the Kennel Club enough for making possible."

That said it all …

Honor and Pleasure

Speaking a few days after the great day, The Royal Kennel Club chairman Tony Allcock OBE summed up the whole experience:

“It was a real honor and pleasure to hold a Garden Party in the grounds of Buckingham Palace as part of our 150th-anniversary celebrations, and we hope that it was enjoyed by all who attended.

“The day was perfect in every way — the sun shone, and the hospitality of the Palace was wonderful. We have so many people to thank for the day: Our hosts Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who were most welcoming; our Kennel Club president; His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, who enjoyed meeting with so many of our members and guests; Sir John Spurling, without whom this event would not have been possible, and the Buckingham Palace staff for making us all feel so welcome.

“I would also like to thank those who helped organize the event and everyone who enjoyed the day with us, including those from organizations, clubs and charities with whom we work to make a positive difference for dogs and their owners.

“My final thanks go to our guests who made the journey from overseas, including visitors from New Zealand, Uruguay, Poland, Portugal, Kenya, Canada and America. We were most honored to have so many people celebrate this important anniversary with us, thank you.”

Overseas Guests

In fact, many of the overseas guests from FCI countries had travelled from Denmark, where the European Dog Show (EDS) had just taken place the previous weekend. Our Dogs Managing Director Vince Hogan was also at the EDS and assisted KC Chairman Tony Allcock with some of the introductions to presidents of kennel clubs from the Philippines, New Zealand, Uruguay, Spain, Malta and Sweden and many other overseas visitors, including the U.S. Vince said, “This event was a marvellous opportunity for The Kennel Club to rekindle relations with some key FCI countries, having been absent from recent world and European events.” In fact, Tony Allcock also hosted a buffet lunch and tour of the impressive club building on Thursday after the event, which was hugely appreciated by the overseas members and guests.

Among the American attendees were, from left, Elizabeth "Beth" Sweigart, Andrew Green, Amy Kiell-Green and Peter Green.

This special day will live in the memory of dog people for many years to come and certainly ticked all the boxes in terms of celebrating the 150th in a positive and fitting manner.