• AFTER hearing on the radio that sailors would be taking the guard at Buckingham Palace, I had to go to see them as I had strong memories of when I was a child at the end of the war.

We would jump up and touch a sailor’s collar for luck, as the collar was a large square hanging across their shoulder.

I got there and stood looking at the sailors through the gates of the palace. Then I noticed that one sailor’s left trouser leg had come loose from the spat and was covering all the spat. I felt so sorry for the sailor.

There was nothing he could do and he must have known. The first day on duty. My heart wept for him.

FLORENCE LOTE
Cromer Street, WC1