Highly Commended

The Forgotten Princess

 

Time has forgotten me, but I still live on, kept alive by the memories of those who surround me. I am deceased but to her my dear sister I am alive. Many people gathered some I know and some that knew me however to them I am a mystery, a missing part of history some might say. My presence is unknown to those who gather, some feel the warmth of my spirit as I pass by in search of my beloved sister. Even though a slight shiver is all they know of me, it comforts me that my dear sister might just look and see my pale white face smiling back.

Every cherished citizen gathered for a place to see my sister, my dear sister. I smile remembering the days of our youth. We were always close back then. I couldn’t smile with her knowing why. To see her here today is a beacon of hope and happiness spreading through me like wildfire.

I can see why everyone gathers today to see my dear sister many joyous things have taken place in her reign, the first steps on the moon, the advance in technology and the fire of Windsor Castle. Some events magnificent and some tragic. They all shall be remembered. During her speech these events are what showed me these moments of history shall be remembered.

Many voices fill the atmosphere and as the echo of the clock rings out, I slowly fade away still a smile upon my face for I seen my dear sister once again but now is my time to say goodbye not only to my sister but to the wonderful queen she has become.

Isabelle Cooke, 11

Windsor

 

Windsor was flying high, he was soaring through the wind, he felt the wind move every feather of his wing. But he looked up, the sky was beginning to cloud over, gloomy and sad. The wind swept him up and Windsor was thrown about with the storm, gradually, specks of rain fell onto his head to his toes. “No! It can’t rain! Anything but rain!” Windsor thought. The rain got heavier and heavier and Windsor froze, his wings stopped flapping, the clench of his feet were releasing and his eyes started to shut, and he fell to the ground with a thump. “This is it, my career is over,” Windsor chirped.

He had given up on his dream and it was time to move on. Maybe he needed to settle down with a job and a family. He had been looking at the top of a tree in Hyde park, it was pricey but it suited him well.

Windsor waddled along the road outside of Buckingham Palace, even if his career of flying was over he would need to learn eventually. Windsor ran until his claws hurt, he started to flap his wings and lift his legs. This was it! Until his left wing started to give in and he fell into a grand chimmeny. He rolled onto a cashmere carpet and was picked up by a big white hand.

Windsor gradually began to open his eyes and he saw a brightly dressed lady with grey silver silky hair neatly curled. “Oh hello little one, did you hear the news? You will be in my pigeon race!” the kind voice spoke. “I understand that you have just been in a tumble but I trust that you will be alright by the time of my jubilee.”

Who was this lady? How come she got to decide my future? And what was so important that it needed a jubilee!

Well I’m leaving, because this is not what I want – then my nose met the sweet notes of rosemary and orange.. A feast, I couldn’t even see it, but the flavours were already melting on my tongue! “Would you like to stay for dinner? The lady asked.

Well, food is one thing I cannot resist!

This Lady said she was called Elizabeth, and she was the Queen of England. That was the most memorable night of my life, we had so much fun.

Weeks of training went by and I had mastered the art of flying. This was hard to adjust to as my previous flying experiences looked lame to these experiences and before I knew it, it was 3 days until the jubilee. My best friend, The Queen, will see me flying! I’m going to make her proud.

The jubilee was beginning and tourists from all over the world watched the queen from outside Buckingham Palace. My trainer lifted me onto his hand and blew a whistle. I shot off and I was to fly over London holding flags of Britain in my beak. I was proud that I could fly, I was up in the clouds and I made Britain proud and I even managed to make the Queen proud!

Amelia Blythe

The Queen's Dalmatian's Solid Gold Collar

 

One autumn breezy morning, the rich royal elegant Queen of England slowly opened her eyes to the sweet tune of birds chirping. When she tiptoed downstairs, she saw a bowl of porridge the size of a football. She quickly gobbled up her scrumptious porridge (even though it was really steamy) and gulped her freshly squeezed orange juice.

Then she wandered upstairs. Her maid already set out her most luxurious dress and hat. It was a bright pink dress covered with frills and diamonds. Her hat matched the dress. The Queen’s butler woke her dalmatian and carefully groomed her. She was called Oreo.

After she strolled outside with her strong guards. She politely waved at all her visitors. She carefully climbed into her black, shiny, spacious and comfy limo with Oreo and kept the window open so she could keep on waving.

The Queen and Oreo were greeting everyone. The guard waving from the car as well. Oreo was wearing a solid gold, shiny collar that said OREO on it. She moved to the very back of the limo so the people on the other side could see her. All of the people were jumping up and down and had been putting the largest grins on their faces. Oreo was happily barking to all of the visitors.

The Queen started coughing then suddenly when she was coughing a cheeky, furry black racoon scurried towards Oreo and ripped his precious collar off. Oreo started barking as loud as he could and the Queen noticed her collar was gone! When the racoon noticed the Queen saw him he ran as fast as he could until he was out of sight.

The Queen yelled “find that racoon”

So the limo driver sped off until they could see the cheeky racoon inside of the colossal London Eye. The Queen gave the racoon a death stare and didn’t even blink. Surprisingly, the London Eye was really slow so the Queen had to wait for it to stop and it took a long time!

Finally the Queen managed to catch him. He scratched her and rapidly ran. Then she told some of her guards to go back to the palace and get her royal expensive luxurious carriage. When her guards came back she rode to the magnificent Big Ben from the London Eye. He was on the huge clock of Big Ben. She brought her jetpack from one of the guards’ backpacks and flew up to the clock. She almost caught the racoon when he quickly jumped down and sprinted away.

The Queen dived into the river Thames and looked for him there. She looked and looked. Her dog was swimming doggy paddle. The guards were doing breast stroke and she was doing front crawl. She was furious, worried and petrified. There were so many more words to describe how she felt.

She screamed “I’m going to catch you annoying, disgusting and sickening racoon” The guards told her to calm down. She was biting her lip as hard as she could. Suddenly a fish bit the Queen and she started to bleed “I HATE THIS” She hollered. She brought out her thickest swimming costume. It was bright pink and shiny. Even her dog had a thick swimming costume but it was bright green instead. SHe caught one glimpse of the irritating racoon. The more angry she became. The more lines appeared on her forehead. She and her guards and her dog swam like a shoal of fish at their top speed. She almost caught him then the racoon did a sommersault in the water. The the Queen did something noone has done before. She did a quadruple front flip and landed next to the racoon and ripped the collar off him.

She dried off and went to her Jubilee. There were all the snacks you could think of. There were super scrumptious cup cakes and wobbly jelly. All the types of teas you could think of. Delighted, the Queen eat everything she could there were even dog snacks for Oreo and she ate the largest cake ever.

THE END

Abigail De Los Rios

The Queen's Gift

 

Chapter 1

It was the middle of the morning at Buckingham Palace and the sun was shining through the windows. In the living room, Vervain (one of Her Majesty’s corgis) was lounging in a velvet dog bed. He was thinking about what it would be like to be a squirrel, when unexpectedly Peter the Pidgeon landed in a flustered heap on the windowsill.

“Did you hear?” cried Peter.

“Hear what?” asked Vervain.

“The Queen is having a special party to celebrate her jubilee. Everybody’s talking about it,” said Peter.

A jubilee party? That sounded important, thought Vervain.

“Well got to go,” said Peter, “Somebody needs to spread the word around, “and with that he flew off.

A party sounded like it needed a present. Vervain decided that he would mention it to the other dogs after dinner. He got up stretched and wandered off for a sniff in the garden.

Chapter 2

“So all I’m saying is that Alsatians should keep to themselves because nobody likes a nosey dog,” concluded Louie.

It was after dinner and the corgis were gathered round the fireplace. This was a time to share news and theories to others. Approving murmurs filled the air.

“Indeed,” agreed Eva, “Now Vervain, you have something to tell us all.”

“Yes,” said Vervain, standing up, “I don’t know if you’ve already heard, but the Queen is having a special party, so I thought.....”

“Why?” cried all the corgis at once.

“If you would just let me finish,” growled Vervain.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I think we should all bond together to get her a present.”

Silence reigned in the air for a few moments. Then suddenly the room was full of questions.

“When? - How?”

“Will you be quiet for a moment?” barked Vervain.

There was instant quiet.

“Now,” said Vervain in a more composed manner, “Can anyone think of any ideas?”

“Ooh, maybe some deluxe doggy treats!” squealed Johnson.

Vervain frowned and shook his head. “Oh, I know!” shouted Eva.

“What?” cried all the corgis.

“A dog bone charm with her name on it!”

“What a good idea!” said all the corgis.

Chapter 3

It was all decided. Eva oversaw the finding of the dog bone charm. Johnson would do the card and Louie would wrap it all up. Vervain would push it to the Queen’s intricately decorated room and then they would wait behind the door. So, after the final touches, Vervain pushed the small, spotty package to the Queen’s ornate, white door. As the night faded away, the corgis watched with eagerness behind the bedroom door. Finally, the Queen got up and started getting dressed, but she soon noticed the small package and opened it up.

Here’s what she found:

It was a gold dog bone shaped charm with the word Queen engraved on it.

She wondered who could have sent it when she spotted a black nose peeping from behind the door. Vervain came bounding out, and so did the others. “Oh corgis! You really have made my day!” said the Queen happily.

Alice Patterson, 10

Coronation Memories

 

“Ding, dong” went the doorbell. “Come in!” I shouted. Zara came bounding in.

“How’s my favourite granddaughter?”

“Good. I heard on TV about a Platinum Jubilee, what is it?”

“It is a celebration of 70 years of a monarch’s reign. Queen Elizabeth II will be the longest reigning monarch in British History, and in the world currently.”

“Wow” said Zara

“I was there at her coronation.”

“Ooh, do tell me about it.”

“Okay. It was the second of June 1953.

It was cold, grey and wet, the wind howled through the thin fabric of our tent. Despite the cold conditions, the atmosphere was buzzing. People chattered like birds. We met a lot of strangers and talked to them about the upcoming event. Blankets were scattered everywhere; children ran on the pavements and we played games.

As the night drew in, we huddled down in out tent and went to sleep. I woke up at about 6 o’clock and the streets were already packed, we were like sardines in a tin. My father sat reading the newspaper and muttering about how this was much better than watchig it on our small television. Suddenly the National Anthem rang out across the streets, a procession of horses, a brass band, and finally a golden carriage came gliding past, like a swan, it shimmered like water in the sun.

As people caught glimpses of the princess (the future Queen), all that could be seen was a sea of flags and handkerchiefs, but in the small view I got, she waved at me! When she had passed the crowd gushed forward, like a huge flow of water, and the streets become a river of people, all jostling for position. At the return trip, people gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace and shouted.

“We want the Queen.”

Then the Queen came on the balcony and waved.

When we got home, we joined the street party that played the radio, sold cakes and danced. I told my father that she waved at me. Ah, how times have changed.” I said.

“Yes” said Zara.

Suddenly my mobile phone pinged and a message flashed up on the screen. I picked it up and it read;

“You are invited to the Platinum Jubilee Street Party in June 2022. There will be drones, a light show, dancing and a wide screen broadcasting the Jubilee. Tickets are payable online, T&Cs apply.”

“Ah, how different life is now” I said. “There was no mobile phone, large televisions and internet. Humans had not even landed on the moon! So many things have changed over 70 years, but some things still remain as important. We all still love a dance and meet people, laughing and chatting, spending time with our pets, and giving those you love a big cuddle”.

Ffion Fearne, 10