Not an immediate link to Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens you’d think, but you’d be wrong. We need to go back to July 1967. It was the height of Monkee mania see[Pathé News], and the band were playing five shows at ” The Empire Pool, Wembley “.

Very sensibly, the band weren’t staying too close to Wembley which was even grimmer fifty years ago than it is today, but in Kensington.

Not only were the fans all over the road in front of the Royal Garden Hotel – there were more than 1000 in the park itself. The chaos went on for days, having been slightly caught out on the first day when the High Street ground to a halt, the police corralled the fans into the park for the rest of the five days the band were here.

So the next time you’re near the Royal Garden Hotel – think back to 55 years ago and thousands of screaming fans.

We’ll finish with Lulu’s thoughts, and then finally the band themselves.