Woman combatting loneliness on ‘surreal’ Buckingham Palace visit

Marjorie Hayward launched Talkin’ Tables in July 2021 – and there are now 80 groups across the globe.

Earlier this month, The Bolton News went down to one such group, held weekly at Horwich’s Thyme Deli, and met some attendees.

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Now, Ms Hayward has attended a Buckingham Palace garden party – where she had the chance to meet Princess Eugenie.

Marjorie discussed Talkin' Tables with Princess Beatrice (Image: Marjorie Hayward)

Marjorie, who attended the palace on Tuesday, May 21, said: “We were in Buckingham Palace through the main gates.

"It was surreal. I kept having to pinch myself and think ‘this is me, these are actually my eyes seeing these things.

“We wandered around to the back, following the people ahead of us – we just happened to be close to where the royals came down the steps and through the crowds.

“We saw Prince William, only at the top of the steps, and we saw Beatrice and Eugenie.”

Marjorie even took the opportunity to invite Princess Eugenie to head up her own Talkin’ Table as a table leader – which she says are urgently needed as new tables, such as one in Wigan, launch.

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Marjorie continued: “I chatted with Eugenie for about seven or eight minutes about Talkin’ Tables. I offered her a card or a leaflet and she said ‘I just don’t have time at the moment to start one in London’, which I thought was very gracious.”

She added: “The rain might have dampened the ground, but it didn’t dampen our spirits.”

The 78-year-old Horwich resident says she is a big royal fan, having previously worked with then-Prince Charles back in the 1990s at the Foundation for Integrated Medicine as a consultant.

The organisation worked to promote the idea that alternative medicines – such as hypnotherapy – should be covered on the NHS alongside modern medicine.

Marjorie said the His Majesty was ‘fascinated by the whole world of complementary medicine.’

She added: “I was a hypnotherapist and a masseur, as well as all my NHS stuff, so I was elected by my university to be on the committee for the integration of medicine, drawing up the white papers for the government.

“I used to go down once a month to London for committee meetings and Prince Charles was there about every third or fourth meeting, just reviewing where we were all up to on our particular brief.

“There were various committees, obviously it wasn’t just me at all. We met at St James’ Palace, we also had receptions at Highgrove, and when the document was finished he gave us all lunch at Highgrove.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.