Going to the toilet at the Jubilee concert, etc.

Nannarose

I know that when there is a royal visit, loo facilities are always organised and checked. One, as handy as possible, is made available for Maj (and her ladies-in-waiting) solely and checked by security.
Then, whoever is being visited has to re-organise their own loos!

I recall Princess Anne coming to the Officers' Mess for dinner. She and her lady in waiting were allocated the newly decorated ladies' loo, the ladies had the spruced up gents and the gents had the bushes outside!

geekesse

I was in London yesterday for something completely unrelated to the jubilee, and there were clusters of portaloos all over the place.

I can recall being very impressed with the portable loos at the Olympics oddly enough, not at all the smelly things I'd expected!

In India there are no loos for ladies except in hotels
I had to go without loo from 9am to 9pm on a day tour of Varanasi
The quide advised me not to drink !
Indian ladies must have very strong bladders ! Whereas men can ‘go’ anywhere as do children

Because I've had a kidney problem (and 4 children), everywhere I go now, every plan i make - I need to know there will be loos!

It's not the wee I would be worried about .... its the other one! Tell me there is no or limited access to a toilet and I have to go!

As far as I know, people attending these functions in an official capacity are very careful indeed about their intake of fluids for an hour or so before the start of the event. And have made sure they know just how long they can "hold themselves in".

As a stage performer, I was in the habit of making sure I drank plenty of water early in the day, and then as the time for the performance approached that I never drank anything fizzy, went to the toilet twice whilst making-up and dressing in costume, and if possible nipped back there just before going on stage. Usually, needing to wee wasn't a problem, but finding santitary protection that could last though a stage performance was the very devil! Mine included the largest possible size of tampax, two towels fixed to the old fashioned belt and black underwear!

Royalty, ambassadors, top politicians etc. have less to worry about, as usually a toilet is assigned to their use in a discreet location.

As for using continence pads it is well researched that people who aren’t incontinent would find urinating into a pad in public extremely difficult due to how our brain is conditioned. Restricting fluids is also a bad idea and can make urgency worse as the urine is more concentrated and irritates the bladder

I wonder if the Queen does sit for the extended lengths of time required; the camera isn't on her all the time, so perhaps she gets a chance to have a 'comfort break'. It would be unkind if the cameras focussed on her empty place, so perhaps it is a 'given' that if anyone disappears for a few moments, the camera won't focus on that area. That said, I do agree that it is remarkable that the Queen and Prince Philip stood for such a time on the barge.

Spare a thought for all those actually taking part in Trooping of the Colour and all the other events!

Yes people who are not incontinent find it (almost) impossible to let go in a pad, and
as said restricting fluids is a bad idea for various reasons.
This makes the barge 5 hour stint even more remarkable.

Oh Sloe gin that has really made me laugh, l am imagining hundreds of desperate people popping behind the Palace bushes for a wee and probably pretending to admire the bushes!

I ‘performed’ in the Jubilee Pageant yesterday and we were told way back that we wouldn’t be able to stop off for a wee in the parade because the parade goes so fast it would be very difficult to catch up.
My group all had plenty to drink until 2 hours before we started, went to the loo, and then did the parade. It didn’t even cross our minds that we wanted to go, it was all too exciting.

Apparently those who go to Time Square on New Year's Eve do wear incontinence pads/pants. If you leave you place to go to the loo there is no way you could get back again. Friends of my family, in their 30's, have confirmed they did this.

On a programme about the Coronation, Peter Dimmock (remember him? ) said that on Coronation Day, he nipped into the loo at the Abbey early on, it was reserved for ‘peers’, although he wasn’t one, and the loo seats were covered in purple velvet!

Said he had never sat on a velvet covered loo before (or since probably).

DanniRae

My daughter treated me to a tour of Buckingham Palace a few years ago. I needed to loo before we did the tour but there were no facilities until you finished the tour! We had to find the loos in a nearby park! To be honest this quite spoilt the whole trip for me and I thought it most unreasonable

Same here, DanniRae. OH and I visited Buckingham Palace about five years ago and I needed the loo before going inside. Our tickets were timed and we didn't have time to go off and search for a loo so I had to hold on. It was a very uncomfortable visit and I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I would have done without my desperate bladder on my mind, and had a desperate dash to find the loos when we went through to the gardens for refreshments. Very bad planning I feel, surely they could put a few portaloos near the entrance to the tour as many people must have the same problem.

First thing I said when I saw thousands in the Mall for the concert was “how do they go to the loo”. I could never attend one of those events ??

I think that many of the male performers suffered too as most of them held their crotches at some point!

Maybe this is a euphemisms saying mobility is the problem?

Think we're all on the same page here ladies, I'm sure this is an issue for the Queen too but she certainly does seem to have mobility problems. Watching as she lit the beacon at Windsor I thought she wasn't going to be able to move forward to touch the globe and at one point someone in the background seemed to be moving towards her when she managed to step forward. Not sure if we'll see her live in public again

Sloegin

My husband and I were fortunate enough to get tickets for The Prom at the Palace for the Golden jubilee. We were allowed into Palace gardens in the afternoon, given wonderful hampers with champagne and delicious picnic food and entertainment provided all afternoon . The actual concert was in the evening so of course everyone wanted to go to the loo before it started but, unfortunately, not quite enough portaloos were provided and the deadline to get into seats was approaching. I'm afraid it meant that lots of us resorted to popping in behind the Palace bushes!

We went to this concert. We went to the loo when Shirley Bassey came on! Very posh portaloos. I've still got our blue hampers with some of the bits inside.

Isn't it ridiculous that we have to worry about finding a toilet? Everyone [and every creature] needs a loo of some kind several times a day, yet (1) there are sometimes few facilities available [2]they are not always signposted [3] some are free and some are not and [4] many feel embarrassed about asking for the toilet. I've met politicians who giggle when toilets are mentioned and councils who don't even consider toilets to be a priority and get uptight if there is a mess on eg the roadside.
Like others I have to know that toilets are available when I go anywhere. If not, then I don't go to that place.

What dangerous piece of advice Tamyra not to drink in India because of lack of ladies loos! You could easily have fainted.

At 81, I can still last 4 hours but don't know if I would manage that at 96. Maybe I won't find out.

I must admit even on car journeys I only drink very small amounts, you never know when you’ll encounter a traffic jam,
Half a cup of tea is all I allow myself.

I don’t think it’s always about how much you drink. I can sometimes need to go to the loo two or three times in a relatively short space of time, not having a drink of anything, then on another occasion, say I am out for a meal and have water plus wine, then sitting about chatting to people, I might not need the loo all evening!

Very odd.

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