Diamond Jubilee: the 'clan chief' lays on a perfect picnic for 12,000 guests A five course menu for 12,000 people, made with 62,500 strawberries, 32,000 eggs, 63,823 tomatoes, 1,600 cucumbers and 20,000 lemons, washed down with glasses of champagne, beer and elderflower cordial? No problem! One will just get in touch with Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal, and have a word with one's favourite supermarket Waitrose, and see if one can get the gardener to put one's lawn in order. Most of the guests at Buckingham Palace had won tickets in a ballot, while another 2,000 people from charities associated with the Royal Family were given entry for both the picnic and the concert afterwards. David Richmond, who runs a Help for Heroes recovery centre, had accompanied 25 wounded serviceman. Richmond, who was shot in Afghanistan four years ago, was awarded a CBE by the Queen last December and said that coming back to Buckingham Palace so soon after was like "all my Christmases coming at once. The Queen is the epitome of service. She is the clan chief. For Jessica Neale, a 25-year-old assistant from Wickford in Essex, the whole thing was "surreal. When else am I going to receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace from the Master of the Household?" she said, waving the smart piece of cardboard in the air. This is going to be framed. As the afternoon progressed, and picnic goers set out their Union Jack flags, the lawn turned from green to red, white and blue - a vast improvement on the brown sludge that had been expected. A man proposed to his girlfriend, though was sadly too shy to speak to the waiting press. Pam Smith from Huddersfield was more than happy to talk about her reason to celebrate - it was her 60th birthday. "This is just amazing, incredible," she beamed. I've got a lump in my throat. It's the best birthday present I ever could have," adding for her husband's benefit that actually, the diamond ring he had given her was quite nice too. Later, Prince Andrew arrived to speak to guests, along with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Eugenie, dressed in a bright red vintage dress, announced cheerily to picknickers: "Hello everyone. Who are you excited to see - apart from Granny? Beatrice, who was wearing an Edem peacock blue print dress and matching blue wedge shoes, joked that she had not received a hamper, and that she would be setting out her own picnic inside the Palace. "I think we're going to have a carpet picnic upstairs," she told 52-year-old Sally Bratt, from north London. Ms Bratt also had a chat with Prince Andrew. He was talking about how the guards came on the boat with their coats all soaked and smelling of wet dogs. For 19-year-old daughter Rachel Hosie it was all too much. "We thought the picnic would be in a cardboard box, but it's in a proper cool bag and everything," she said, jumping up and down on the spot. If I see Prince Harry, I will scream with delight. Her mother, Monica, was just as excited. "Look at all of this," she said, motioning across the garden. The Royals know how to organise things. I say get rid of the government, and get them to run everything. Everything! .