attending the team gb evening

We found ourselves at the kick off event for Team GB at the Olympics and rubbing shoulders with a few of the great, good and -er- very fit.

A black tie occasion complete with red carpet and actually my second brush with royalty this week.

When I spotted the Queen a few days ago, for Parliament's opening, I did that rooftop thing where I looked around and could see a few strategically positioned men in special uniforms up on high.

For this one, we'd all been told to bring passports or driving licences as additional I.D. in order to get in. The procession of dinner jackets and fancy frocks past similar looking special uniforms was speedily handled, but also a reminder of the vigilance at these occasions.

This time the event was with William and Catherine, what with them being patrons for the GB team and all.

We'd actually seen them a little earlier in the day as well, whilst around Belgrave Square where a policeman on particularly sleek and smooth running motor cycle had stopped traffic. As a fleeting moment we'd seen the entourage whisked through the quiet streets away from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's London residence.

We were still outside the Royal Albert Hall when the royals arrived, with the inevitable flurry of attention for Kate's latest hairstyle, the teal? dress and even discussion of the shoos. Of course, for this occasion, complete with its fancy dinner, we had a proper 'Now be upstanding' moment to welcome them into the Royal Albert Hall, before the main evening kicked off.

And once inside it immediately moved from process to hospitality and became a bit of a champagne do, positively signalling the start of the last part of the countdown.

And much later, as we emerged for carriages at around one a.m., we could smile at the large number of well-groomed people wandering around SW7 carrying their heavily laden goody-bags away from the event.