The Queen's Drive-In

by Pa Rock
Film Fan 

Maybe she is in the throes of some late-life crisis, or perhaps she is just looking for a way to provide the lesser princes and princesses with some pocket change, but whatever her reasoning, Elizabeth II, the Queen of the British Empire, has announced that she is opening her country estate, Sandringham, for a weekend of drive-in movies at the end of September.

That's right, the Queen's 20,000-acre estate in the Sandringham Parish of Norfolk, about 100 miles outside of London, will host a weekend of movies, drive-in style, for the general public.  Eight films will be shown in all, with a double-feature beginning on Friday night, September 25th, at 5:00 pm, and triple-features on Saturday and Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m.

The line-up is:

Friday:   "1917" (5:00 p.m.)  and  "Rocketman" (9:00 p.m.)

Saturday:  "Toy Story" (1:00 p.m.),  "The Greatest Showman" (5:00 pm.),  and  "Bohemian Rhapsody"           (9:00 p.m.)

Sunday:  "Moana"  (1:00 p.m.),   "Grease" (5:00 p.m.),  and  "A Star is Born" (the Lady Gaga version) (9:00 p.m.)

The vehicles of attendees will be given transmitters apparently on which to both view and listen to the films.  (This old movie projectionist knows that a traditional large outdoor viewing screen would not work during daylight hours.). The vehicles will also be socially-distanced which would make the concept of a single screen more of a challenge.

The price for this royal outing is 32.50 British pounds (per car?) (or about $40 US), and for an extra 7.50 pounds ($10 US)  a table, deck chairs, and popcorn will be set up next to the vehicle.  Tickets will be sold in advance on-line.  Also, food and drink vendors will be circulating among the cars during the shows - and alcohol will be served.

There was no word on the "loo" situation.  The Queen's residence at Sandringham has seventy-eight bathrooms, but it is unlikely that movie-goers will be welcome inside of the main house.  Hopefully public restrooms will be available.  There was a situation earlier this summer when the public restrooms at the Queen's 50,000-acre estate in Balmoral, Scotland had to close because of the pandemic.  Visitors to the estate began relieving themselves  on the grounds wherever they pleased.  Eventually the staff at Balmoral sent out a series of tweets informing people that if they needed to pee to do so at least thirty meters from lochs (lakes) and streams, and if they needed to "defecate," to do so "as far away from possible from buildings, paths, water courses and farm animals."  Defecators were also instructed to bury their feces in shallow holes and replace the turf.  

If the same rules are in effect at Sandringham, watching the movie-goers relieving themselves might be almost as entertaining as watching the movies!

The Queen herself will not be present for the drive-in weekend at Sandringham.  She will be relaxing at Balmoral - and probably being very careful where she steps!