Mikaela Walks the Red Carpet

 



Two Narnia umbrellas, two soundtracks,
one journal, and two fabulous Narnia bags
from the folks at Fox!

 Ladies and Gentleman—the World and Royal Premiere of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

On Tuesday morning (after I last updated you), Mama and I took a leisurely stroll down Park Lane to the Dorchester Hotel, where we met with 20th Century Fox to pick up a goody bag and received information about our contact man for the evening.

The beautiful Albert memorial with Mama on the steps.

From there, we took a walk through the fast-falling snow around the entire circumference of Hyde Park (no small feat, I tell you), which parallels Park Lane and is just across the street from our hotel.

As we walked in the below-freezing temperatures, we saw rose gardens, fountains, the Princess Diana Memorial Walk and Fountain, the Serpentine, Rotten Row (a royal drive to Buckingham Palace established in 1689), a gorgeous Peter Pan statue, mirrored sculptures, Speaker’s Corner (where, every Sunday, citizens converge to discuss any and all controversial subjects), Marble Arch, Kensington Gardens, and—most spectacular of all—the Albert Memorial, which Queen Victoria herself commissioned in memory of her beloved.

With our extremities thoroughly blue, we warmed up in our hotel room before enjoying a fantastic High Tea in the Park Room of our hotel (again, all paid for by Fox!). The clotted cream was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted—the look and texture of butter, but the taste and richness of whipped cream. The scones were much less biscuit/bread-like, and the sugar cubes came in white and raw, in rustic, irregular shapes.


From then on, the preparations for our gala evening moved into full swing—bobby pins, rouge, silk, powder, and curling irons flying. We even managed to melt down one of our curling irons by using a convertor, but failing to use a transformer—our curling iron couldn’t handle the 220 volts, and it not only died a terrible death, but it also took a strand of Mama’s beautiful hair with it (Little Women anyone?).



We joined the domestic press (that is, two dozen men and women from various press outlets in the United States) in our bus to Leicester Square (pronounced “Lester”, by the way). Once we made it through security, we found ourselves in a fantasy land—a “roundabout” of red carpet with trees dripping with lights, big flakes of snow falling and floating, and a large lamppost reminiscent of the one in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

There was a stage to one side of the circle where the cast was being interviewed. On opposite sides were two avenues of red, leading to two cinemas. Sadly, we were in the theatre where the queen wasn’t. But we watched her come in minutes before the movie started, and the entire cast came on stage to introduce the movie.



The cast! From left to right: Michael Apted, the director;
Liam Neeson (Aslan); Laura Brent (Lilliandil); ? (perhaps Gary Sweet as Lord Drinian?);
Will Poulter (Eustace); Anna Popplewell (Susan); Will Moseley (Peter);
Georgie Henley (Lucy); and Skandar Keynes (Edmund)



Afterwards, Fox threw a party for the press and us, and we spent the time hashing the movie out with some of the Christian press we met. (Stay tuned for a detailed review of the movie on Friday and make plans to see it this weekend!)

Yes, it was in 3D. Aren't those glasses
flattering?



My gorgeous mother in the beautiful
Grosvenor House lobby.



I felt like Cinderella, having gone to a magical ball, and then turning back into my own self with a pumpkin instead of a carriage and mice instead of footmen. The beautiful memories of that enchanted evening, however, will last a lifetime.