We rose a bit later than normal, and after a bit of breakfast at the hotel and some work that needed doing by Phil, we set out on a walk from Maida Vale to near the Bond Street station to meet up with Lady Jane Tanqueray for lunch.
The walk took us over the Regent Canal and we skirted Regent's Park before turning toward Bond Street. As usual for a walk in London, we came across something new and intersesting we hadn't seen before. Today, it was a blue plaque highlighting the home of Lionel Logue. Do you recognize that name? Does it have a familiar ring to it? If you've seen the movie, The King's Speech, the you may remember that Lionel Logue was the speech therapist who helped King George VI overcome his stutter when speaking in public. The movie does take some liberties. In reality, he wasn't yet King when he started seeing Logue, nor did he come as a result of his wife's efforts. As the Duke of York, he began seeing Logue in 1926 after being introduced to Logue by Lord Stamfordham. He became King in 1936, 10 years later and by that point his stammer was long-since noticeable to the public. It is true that the two remained good friends until the King's death.
Phil and I then took another route for the hour-long walk back to the hotel, heading down along Oxford Street for a bit, darting in and out amongst the many Christmas shoppers.
A quick change, and we set off again for our evening out. This time, we took the Tube to Waterloo in time to catch a train to Camberley, the home of Phil's colleague Les and his wife. A lovely meal, more laughter and, yes, wine.
What a lovely start to our week in the U.K.
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