Nurses among the Queen’s guests at patron’s lunch

A dozen Queen’s Nursing Institute nurses were among 10,000 guests who braved the rain for the Queen’s official 90th birthday celebrations in London.

The 12 Queen’s nurses attended Sunday’s patron’s lunch on The Mall, which was held to recognise Her Majesty’s involvement with more than 600 charities and organisations.

The group, all wearing their distinctive uniforms, gathered at Westminster before making their way to Horse Guards Parade for a picnic lunch along with representatives of other organisations.

There was also a parade and walkabout involving several members of the royal family, including Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.

‘Raising our profile’

Lead diabetes specialist nurse Katie Seal was among the Queen’s nurse group.

‘We decided to attend wearing our uniforms to help raise our profile and the whole event gave us an incredible opportunity to explain our work to others,’ said Ms Seal, who works in the diabetes community team at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust.

‘People either think we are personal nurses to the Queen, or that we work in hospitals, but once we explain we are based in the community and all have different areas of specialty, they are really impressed.’

Asked about being a Queen’s nurse in the year their patron marks her 90th birthday, Ms Seal added: ‘We feel privileged to be nurses any time of the year, but obviously it is extra special.

‘I don’t think any of us realised just how many organisations the Queen is patron of; it’s astonishing really.’