A Royal invitation (From Barry And District News)

A Royal invitation

A BARRY couple were shocked and stunned when an invite to one of the Queen's famous garden parties landed on their doormat.

Thomas Casey and his wife Jill were invited to the regal event in July after Mr Casey's name was put forward by his employees.

He works for the Government pensions department and is due to retire in a few months at the age of 65.

He said: "I had a phone call asking me whether I would accept the invite. At first I thought it was a joke and somebody was pulling my leg. But when I was asked for my full name and whether we wanted to take any children under the age of 18, I realised it was not a joke and we soon received an invitation to go to the palace."

Mr Casey and his wife Jill travelled to London on Tuesday, July 20, and arrived at Buckingham Palace.

They were escorted through the front door of the royal home and walked along a red carpet to reach the garden party.

Mrs Casey said: "It was a wonderful day out. The Queen was wearing lemon and looked very smart in her clothes.

"Her Majesty was there with Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

"After the party we went to watch the Mousetrap and also went around some sights, such as the London Eye."

The palace was swarming with security staff. Mr Casey said: "We could see there were snipers on the roof and a helicopter would fly past now and again.

"But it was informal inside the grounds. The staff were very polite and a brass band from the Scots Guards was playing all the time. They began to play the theme to James Bond when the Queen walked up."

The garden party was for civil servants, members of the clergy and war veterans.