Andrej Pejic and Geoffrey J Finch gear up for their hot date at Buckingham Palace

geoffrey j finch's facebook, juergen teller/photoshopped by frockwriter

Our recent post about Andrej Pejic heading off to meet the Queen at an upcoming Australian-themed reception at Buckingham Palace caused a minor stir. Although Pejic’s Australian agency Chadwick had initially confirmed Pejic would be attending this Thursday's soiree, faced with what we hear was a subsequent barrage of calls from the Australian mainstream media, the agency later played it a little coy, claiming Pejic “had not decided if he would make it to London”. Yeah, right. This morning, we spoke with fellow Buck Palace invitee, Pejic’s London-based Australian designer mate Geoffrey J Finch, who tells frockwriter the pair plans to head to the soiree together. “I couldn’t think of a better date to go with” said Finch, who was the first to put Pejic on a runway in womenswear way back in May 2009 in Sydney, when Pejic opened Finch’s Antipodium show at Australian Fashion Week. Finch is suiting up for the royal occasion in a double-breasted charcoal Burberry. Is he at all concerned that his date might turn up channeling Princess Diana? “It would be quite incredible, I’d love to see him in a little pleated collar” he noted. So far, however, we gather Pejic has been mulling over a rack of Jean Paul Gaultier. “I can’t wait to see what he pulls out of the bag” says Finch. UPDATE 14/10: Blowout at Buckingham Palace.


Pejic, Finch and, as previously reported, London-based retailer Yasmin Sewell are not the only Australians to receive an invitation. A Buckingham Palace spokeperson has just confirmed that both Elle Macpherson and Collette Dinnigan (a new fave of the Duchess of Cambridge) will also be attending.  

Finch arrived in Sydney over the weekend to attend to sales of his Spring/Summer 2012 collection which was just unveiled at London Fashion Week. Originally planning to be back in Australia for two weeks, he is cutting the visit short to leave for London on Tuesday afternoon. 

“You can’t really say no to Her Majesty” says Finch, who reports that guests have been asked to arrive at the Palace half an hour earlier than the event, which is due to start at 6.00pm. Following his RSVP, he adds, he received a black and white “GP” sticker to put on his taxi, so it can enter the palace, in addition to a small document that he describes as an HM “FAQ”. He notes, “Things such as ‘If anyone should want to write a letter to thank the Queen, this is not necessary, but if you do all letters will be seen by Her Majesty'. It doesn’t have anything on how you should address her”. 

This is possibly because the Palace presumes all in attendance have seen The Queen and The King's Speech and have the "It's Ma’am as in ham, not Ma’am as in farm" protocol down pat.