Queen lays on special tea for two VIP children who missed Buckingham Palace garden party

Queen with Lyla and Tony in Buckingham Palace garden - BUCKINGHAM PALACE/PA

One child missed the Buckingham Palace garden party after his family got stuck in a motorway traffic jam. The other, who has a rare brain tumour and suffers seizures, was too poorly to go.

This week, Tony Hudgell and Lyla O’Donovan more than made up for it with a special tea party thrown by none other than the Queen, complete with afternoon tea, a ride in a royal carriage and a military band playing songs by Taylor Swift.

Tony, nine, and Lyla, 11, were welcomed to the Summer House in the Buckingham Palace garden by the Queen, sitting down with their parents and siblings for sandwiches, cakes and iced biscuits decorated to look like the King’s Guard.

The children watched the Changing of the Guard from inside the palace forecourt, arriving at the party in a horse-drawn carriage from the Royal Mews.

The Queen told them it was “really nice to get you here today”, adding, “We thought we’d give you a special garden party” before they settled down to tea.

Lyla and Tony watched Changing of the Guard from the Palace forecourt - BUCKINGHAM PALACE/PA

She also presented Tony, of West Malling, Kent, with his British Empire Medal. He is the youngest ever recipient of the BEM, awarded to him for services to the prevention of child abuse.

The schoolboy was so severely tortured by his birth parents that he had both his legs amputated as a baby. After being adopted, he has since raised £1.8 million for the Evelina London Children’s Hospital in London, striking up a friendship with its patron the Princess of Wales and receiving a personal Christmas card from Prince George.

In June 2020 at the age of five, he walked 10km on his prosthetic legs, inspired by Captain Tom Moore’s fundraising walk and has a law named after him, Tony’s Law, to allow tougher prison sentences for those convicted of child cruelty and neglect.

Paula Hudgell, Tony’s adoptive mother, said: “We were all extremely honoured to have been invited to Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea with The Queen – an experience we would never have dreamed of.

“Everyone was so kind and thoughtful and made us feel comfortable and relaxed.

Queen greets the children - BUCKINGHAM PALACE/PA

“Tony chatted to the Queen as if they were old friends and she was lovely with him and it was an exceptionally very proud moment when the Queen gave Tony his BEM.

“We would like to thank everyone who made this one of the most memorable days we will ever have.”

Lyla O’Donovan, of Catterick, North Yorkshire, who was diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma, a slow-growing tumour, aged three, and has undergone 20 operations in her young life so far, has also raised funds for seriously ill children.

Her father Corporal Paul O’Donovan serves with The 6 Rifles. The Queen has been Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles since July 2020, and its band played a selection of music including songs from The Lion King, Frozen, Mary Poppins and Taylor Swift at the party.

Lyla said: “Everyone made us feel so comfortable and made me feel super special so thank you for this.

Delighted Tony listens to the band - BUCKINGHAM PALACE/PA

“A massive thank you to everyone involved yesterday, we are so grateful and feel so lucky to have been invited.”

Paul O’Donovan, Lyla’s father, said: “Last week was an amazing moment for us as a family. Lyla’s health hasn’t been good over the past few weeks, and she’s been having so many more seizures and up to eight a week in school, so we always cherish everything we do.

“For us to come and have an experience like this was incredible and Lyla loved every second of our trip.

“Lyla was gutted about missing the original garden party but she said she’s glad she missed it now as she’s got to meet the Queen and there’s no one else more important than her, apart from the King of course.”

In May, Tony’s family made headlines when they shared his disappointment about missing the formal garden party after being stuck in a motorway traffic jam on his X account, formally Twitter.

The Royal family account replied saying: “Sorry to hear this, Tony! We were looking forward to seeing you too. Fancy trying again another day? Leave it with us.”

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