Benches can be quite taken for granted and often not particularly noted; somewhere to wait, somewhere to rest, somewhere to meet. My favourite without a doubt has to be the one I have shared with dignitaries, politicians and royals, not I admit at the same time, but shared nonetheless at some point or other.

My bench, as I lovingly refer to it, stands without ceremony, blending into the background on a wide, sweeping, shingle drive at Sandringham, the Queen’s Norfolk country home and estate. The bench is so closely situated to the house that you can practically see in the windows, but also has an excellent view of the front door so you can keep an eye on who’s coming and going.

On a glorious, sunny day during Jubilee year, I shared a packed lunch with my children on the bench. It was the best lunch, fabulous actually. We were so amused that we could have our lunch here, we giggled and guessed about who had possibly sat on our bench in the preceding years also eating lunch. And we had to believe that Queen Elizabeth II herself and her children and corgis, maybe even grandchildren, had all done the same as us but with one exception – afterwards they were allowed to nip inside and stick the kettle on!

Images courtesy of Karen Roe in flickr