The Royal Di-Flowering!

It was 28 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper had his way.
In 1981, a wee lass of 20 named Dianne Spencer became the blushing bride of Charles Philip Arthur George, the Prince of Wales on July 29th at St Paul's Cathedral in a fairy-tale wedding.

My bestest friend at the time was a fellow Curtain Caller named Ed Kowalski (Edge) and we were quaffing a pint at The Duke of York. It was late afternoon and the mood was jovial though the place hadn't yet begun to fill up. There were decorations throughout the place anticipating a big crowd to enjoy the soon-to-be-televised nuptials.

In addition to the several different British beers on draught, they had a special drink entitled "THE KING AND DI" with placards at each table inviting one to partake in the cocktail, "We have married:-cider, orange juice, brandy & triple sec in celebration of the Royal Wedding" for a mere $2.90!

Ed and I decided to elaborate on this delicious drink with our own concoction that we dubbed "THE VIRGIN AND THE PRINCE", "A Cruel Intrusion of: stout, bailey's welsh cream, pink champagne, delicately topped with a cherry. In honour of the Royal Di-Flowering", also for only a mere $2.90!

Pictured here is the rough draft of our creation (click to embiggen), the final version was transcribed on the flipside of the York's offering and we placed it on a nearby table and sat back awaiting the discovery of our mischief.





Another pint later and the place began to be engulfed with the after-5 crowd mostly the suits from the nearby offices. A young couple sat at our designated table and viewed the cocktail with interest. They called the waitress over and proceeded to order the specialty of the house. The waitress hummed and hawed for a moment and took the card over to the Bartendress who looked it over quizzically, "Hmmm, I don't think we have any Pink Champagne" she muttered. Ed and I were stifling our guffaws and realizing that the jig is up, made our way towards the exit. The staff were now aware that they'd been had and espied us sneaking out. They called us over, congratulated us on our deceit and bought us a round! The card was passed around the bar and in true British tradition, the gang started singing various pub songs and we'd started the ball rolling for a night of ribaldry!

After two or three more beers, we quietly made our departure without checking to see if we were comped on all the beers or just the first round...I imagine that our creation is still with them, but don't really know for we haven't gone back since, in case there's a huge tab waiting for us!

Sadly Ed has joined Lady Di for a heavenly shag when he succumbed to liver cancer over 15 years ago. In honour of their memory, I have decided to make it "Edge Week" and showcase several items that Ed had created over the years!

ps. In case you're wondering, my cast has successfully been removed and I'll give you details tomorrow!