The Queen and Us - The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Her Majesty to invite you to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace" reads the hand-lettered invitation sent to 40,000 guests each year by the palace Garden Party Ladies. "The Queen and Us" tells the story of four party guests as they savor each moment of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion. At the party, only a select few guests will be presented to the queen. Attendants calm the jittery nerves of the lucky ones with a crash course in royal protocol. Less formal occasions in every area of the country pack the queen's schedule. She removes her shoes for a ceremony at a Hindu temple and dines on Kashmiri specialties prepared especially to her milder taste. But the queen isn't the only member of the royal family who regularly crosses the country. In rural Northumberland, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall take tea and get a tour from a local organic farmer. In the barn, the couple meets two very special cows born around the time of their royal wedding. The animals were required by the Angus Society to have names beginning with the letter "C" and are called yes, Charles and Camilla. Inside the Firm - To handle 4,000 state visits, balls, school dedications, nursing home visits and charity events, the queen depends on her husband, her children, cousins and now a new generation of grandchildren. In "Inside the Firm," the queen's children talk frankly about the roles they were born into and the challenges of royal life. Each has a unique royal style: Prince Edward's theater training helps him give a special flourish to the standard plaque unveiling. Prince Charles advocates for farmers and takes the train to reduce his carbon footprint. Princess Anne, who felt uneasy with her role at first, is now known as the hardest working royal, with 595 engagements in a single year. But who's counting? Tim O'Donovan is. The unofficial royal statistician has kept tabs on every royal activity since 1980. Everyone is on hand for the biggest indoor royal event of the year, when nearly a thousand diplomats from 157 nations attend a sumptuous royal ball.
