A royal visit with Nene Quimson

England always delights. A must-visit for travelers as it offers  the best of everything for  culture lovers, history buffs and fashion aficionados. 

Arriving on the day of the London Bridge terrorist attack, my cell phone was filled with messages from concerned friends who advised me to either postpone or just cancel the whole trip all together.  Yet, it was noticeable that the British were firm in their resolve with their motto, “ Stay calm and carry on.”  Many residents echoed a similar sentiment,  “Life has to go on. Let us show that we are not afraid and go about our daily lives, otherwise we would have lost the battle to the terrorists.”

It was a delight to visit Nene Quimson’s beautifully appointed estate in Ascot that she only resides in for a few months each year. As we toured the area, we heard that some of its famous residents were the  Beatles and members of  nobility,  as well as the world-famous Royal Ascot Racecourse and a number of exceptional private schools and boarding schools.

Nene makes sure to touch base with her long-time UK friends who fondly refer to her open house as “Quimson Season.”  Lucky for us, a delicious lunch was served and shared with Linda and Tonet Lagdameo, New York socialite Elizabeth Kabler and her cousin Nancy Hudson accompanied by Joanne de Asis Benitez.  Linda recounted that they had just attended a diplomatic affair with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Since they were informed beforehand that it is customary not to engage in a conversation with the royal couple unless spoken to, everyone strictly followed the directive. However, they were quite surprised because as they were introduced by  the  marshal of the Diplomatic Court,  who informed their majesties that Tonet had twice been designated ambassador to the Royal Court of St. James, Prince Philip jokingly asked him, “And what did you do wrong that you are back?” The ever diplomatic queen smilingly followed it up with, “And what did you do right to return?”

In 1988, Nene  founded the Filipino Women’s Association (UK) when she was then the Philippine ambassador’s wife.  Together with a small group of 14 women, she formed an organization that would project a balanced view of Filipino women with an emphasis on their positive contribution to society.  This was to counteract the negative image of Filipinas as “mail order brides” because they were being portrayed as such in the UK media at that time.  Soon after, the group  increased in membership and she agreed to be its patron and president of honor, thus starting the tradition of having the spouse of the Philippine ambassador as patron of FWA-UK. Twenty-nine years later, the association is going strong and gathers annually  for a fundraising event that coincides with our Philippine Independence Day.  They make sure that all  the proceeds are funneled for scholarships, livelihood projects, and survivors of major calamities that beset our country.

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