The Summer Soirée was held at the House of Commons by kind invitation of Loraine
Midda, PSC founder member and Officer of the House. The event was hosted by Helene Martin Gee and Jill Pay, with a wonderful group of Pink Shoe members and friends.
Special welcome was given to Guest of Honour HH Princess Shahnaz Husain, as well as greeting many old friends plus some new faces whom we shall hope to see again.
A balmy summer evening was enlivened by guests attired in their glamorous summer clothes to enjoy prosecco, Kent pear juice and a lavish buffet of seasonal goodies.
We were treated to an enthralling talk from House of Commons Librarian Melanie Unwin and Archivist Mari Takayanagi on sufragette Emily Wilding Davison whose centenary was in June.
Melanie
outlined the suffragette movement itself and the many activities that suffragettes
undertook to fight for the right to vote. We learned about the different areas of Parliament linked with these valiant suffragettes and were each given a useful map to plot these for ourselves.
Mari then gave us an insight into just how much was done in this cause, with some amusing anecdotes such as hiding in a Parliamentary broom cupboard for the night of the official Census, to the horrific treatment of the women in prison when being force fed.
Guests were able to view displays of historic documents, and had the option of taking a tour of Parliament afterwards to visit all the places mentioned.
The
party then continued far later than planned, with guests captivated by fabulous
food and fizz along with the great company of other members and friends.
Helene thanked the excellent speakers Melanie and Mari, and all the lovely guests, especially Princess Shahnaz who most generously gave each guest a special gift bag of her wonderful Auyervedic beauty products to take home.
We are delighted to announce that Princess Shahnaz will be sharing tips of her inspirational success. HH has agreed to give a special talk on her hugely successful international business exclusively to Pink Shoe members this autumn.