My Brush with Royalty - by Mark Lindsay
It was such a privilege and an honour to be invited to play at an occasion of such importance as the Royal Garden Party at Hillsborough. The experience alone made the day worthwhile as I'd never played for a crowd as big as the one gathered in the gardens of Hillsborough Castle.
Although the weather was atrocious we didn't let it dampen our mood and we managed to pull off our 3 hour programme very well. Obviously, the main event was the arrival of Prince Harry, who was making his first visit to Northern Ireland. We heard the bugler play his fanfare and we played the National Anthem to welcome the Prince. I remember that as soon as we had finished with the National Anthem we rushed out of our seats to find Prince Harry, not caring how dirty our shoes got or how far they sank into the muddy grass. After taking our pictures we continued with our programme and we didn't see the Prince again. Although it was exciting, the Prince's visit was short lived as he left in the helicopter not 10 minutes after speaking to the last of the guests. However, it didn't bother us! We'd done our job well and that was all that mattered in the end.
I already know that this story will become one that I tell to my children and maybe even my grandchildren in the future as I know it was a day that I could never possibly forget.
