Do You Treat Guests of Honor Like This?

Anyone who reads this blog regularly may have noticed the paucity of contests and sweepstakes we cover, probably because my family are among the many who never win anything. (So we ignore them rather than face the pain of defeat.)  But, sometimes, a contest comes along that is so compelling, one whose prizes are so intriguing, that we have to share it and perhaps -- give one of you a chance to win!

With that, we'd like to introduce the extraordinary, culturally rich "London's Official Guest of Honor" contest which began November 12th and ends on December 9, 2014.  The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, describes it like this, with more detail to follow:

Launched by VISITLONDON.COM, the official Visitor Guide to the capital, together with VisitBritain and the GREAT Britain campaign, the opportunity has drawn thousands of people from all over the world to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience London as never before.

The winning guest will be invited to London in February 2015 and will have the unique honours of:

• Opening Tower Bridge, the most famous bridge in the world
• Visiting the Science Museum with renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking
• Downton Abbey's butler Carson – actor Jim Carter – will provide the winner with afternoon tea at Lord's Cricket Ground
• Plácido Domingo and British ballerina and Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell, will take the winner to one of their favourite theatres in the world, the Royal Opera House. 
• The Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton will personally cook a meal for the Official Guest of Honour at one of the capital's best restaurants
• The Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP, will take the Guest of Honour behind the scenes of the Houses of Parliament. 

And there's more! As part of the experience the Guest of Honour will fire the guns from HMS Belfast, be an extra in the West End smash hit musical Mamma Mia!, walk the red carpet at a film premiere in Central London, and meet the English tennis star Tim Henman for a VIP tour of the All England Tennis Club, which hosts The Wimbledon Championships.

London's City Hall proudly bears the Official Guest Crest of Honor

CONTEST RULES!
To apply to be London's Official Guest of Honour, entrants must go to Visitlondon.com, submit a short film or image and in 70 words describe their perfect day in London. The closing date is 9th December 2014 and participants must be aged 18 and over. For all terms and conditions see the visitlondon.com website.

As we would tell our kids, may the best behaved guest win!