Pregnant Paisley brings a plus-one to meet King
THE King awards a pregnant sailor a medal for her part in the Queen’s funeral...but she can’t dress in uniform to greet him because the Navy doesn’t do maternity wear.
Medical assistant Paisley Chambers-Smith, 25, was among 150 Royal Navy personnel presented with Royal Victorian Order honours.
She said Charles asked about her baby, which is due in July.
Paisley added: “That’s the first member of royalty I’ve ever met so it was amazing.”
Collapsed
Afterwards she was given special dispensation to sit down. Seven other sailors, however, collapsed in the heat and had to be led out of the grounds of Windsor Castle. Paisley was one of 98 ratings pulling the state gun carriage bearing the late Queen’s coffin. In total 150 sailors were involved in the funeral, either pulling the carriage, acting as a brake or marching alongside. Yesterday they were accompanied by the Band of the Royal Marines, as they marched through the George IV Gate into the quadrangle.
The King, 74, then appeared, wearing his ceremonial uniform as Admiral of the Fleet.
He took the salute and presented sailors and officers with medals, stopping for a chat and a handshake with each.
Commander Nicola Cripps, who was on the first front rank of the gun carriage, said: “In 10 days of training we did a hell of a lot of steps. When we went for the overnight rehearsal we marched from midnight to 7am.
“We saw the sun rise over Buckingham Palace. On the day itself we had been on our feet for some six or seven hours before we even stepped off.”
Able Rating Jessica King said: “I actually lost my own mother not so many weeks prior to the training. And obviously losing the Queen herself, the boss essentially, was an enormous loss.”