Royalty, Romance and Remedies
Posted on Aug 09, 2016
Tony Atkinson is an older man with an extraordinary early life. Lyn Smailes has worked with Tony to jointly tell that story, and the result is the recently published book A Prescribed Life.
We were lucky to have them at lunch to tell us a selection of the stories from the book. No brief article can do justice to this book or to the presentation that we enjoyed.
Here’s how the ABC website summarises the book:
When Tony was a medical student he held a number of unusual jobs.
He worked as a footman at Buckingham Palace, and attended the Queen at her coronation in 1953.
He was also a waiter for Winston Churchill at No.10 Downing Street.
Tony's appetite for mischief and knack for being in the right place at the right time have delivered him a colourful life.
Here are some of my favourite stories:
On returning to the Palace after her coronation, holding the Orb*, the photo shows the Queen and everyone smiling – including, yes, Tony the footman. Why the smiles? The Duke of Edinburgh had just said “Don’t drop the bloody thing!”
The rigidity of how the Palace did things (like banquets) was fascinating, but also extraordinary. The timing was so rigorous that General Eisenhower, eating rather slowly, had his plate removed before he had finished eating!
As for the stench of the lobster in the dress coat – readers will have to buy the book.
Arriving with his wife in Australia in 1952 as a 10 pound pom (as this writer did in 1969), the arrival of this penniless young doctor with his exotic work history featured in The Sun.
And to think that Tony spent ten years as a colleague of our very own Gordon Cheyne!
* And here’s a piece of trivia:
The Globe shape of the Orb has a 6 inch diameter and signifies the world and its sovereign’s power. The cross surmounting it denotes Christian rule. The present sovereign’s orb was made for the Coronation of Charles II in 1661.