Time for Tea
Shipmates Stephen Earp and David Serrell and their partners joined hundreds of other invited guests for the first Buckingham Palace Garden Party of King Charles III’s reign on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, as guests of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester to represent the HMS Ardent Association.
A tradition dating back to Queen Victoria, the Royal Family’s annual summer Garden Parties came to be closely associated with the late Queen Elizabeth II during her 70-year reign: a chance for the monarch to meet charity workers and community representatives in the rural surroundings of the Palace grounds.
Since launching the Type 21 Frigate HMS Ardent in May 1975, HRH the Duchess of Gloucester has sponsored the ship and later the HMS Ardent Association and has attended all key anniversary events of the Association. In 2015 HRH led the dedication for the HMS Ardent Association Anchor Memorial located on the grounds of the National Memorial Arboretum on 21 May 2015, the 33rd anniversary of the sinking of HMS Ardent in Falkland Sound.
In 2016 the Duchess became the HMS Ardent Association’s patron.
Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, GCVO (born Birgitte Eva Henriksen on 20 June 1946; later van Deurs), is the wife of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary, and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
