ROYAL MEMORIES
The articles about the British Royal family in your edition dated September 16 reminded me about my two brief encounters with two members of the family.
In May 1981, just before the then Prince Charles was due to wed Princess Diana, we were on a visit to Gordonstoun School in
Moray, Scotland. While touring the school grounds, we were informed that Prince Charles was due to open an old age home in a nearby village that same day.
We hurriedly made our way down to the village, just in time to see Prince Charles arrive and greet the residents. We were secretly hoping that Princess Diana might be there as well, but it was not to be!
As it was quite a cold day and the village rather small, there weren’t many people in attendance. As a result, we were able to watch much of the official ceremony which took place in the front garden of the home. Our Scottish host declared that we were mere Sassenachs and marched off to the nearest pub, leaving us to lap up the pomp and ceremony taking place before us.
As a matter of interest, Prince Charles attended Gordonstoun in the early 1960s. As part of their initiation to the school, new boys were sent by the seniors to spend a night in the old chapel situated in the forest some way from the boarding house. As Gordonstoun is situated on the North Sea coast, water tended to flood into the basement of the chapel during high tide, causing anything which happened to be lying in the basement to float about. The resultant noise no doubt caused some consternation amongst the newbies!
Almost two decades later, in November 1999, whilst in a breakfast meeting at the Royal Hotel in Durban with members of a trade delegation from the Spanish Embassy, we noticed a great deal of commotion when an army of security personnel arrived and started to set up their equipment in the foyer of the Royal Hotel.
We then discovered that the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting was due to start in Durban and various Prime Ministers and Presidents, including Queen Elizabeth, were due to arrive later that morning. By the time our meeting had concluded, the hotel had been locked down and nobody was being allowed in without security clearance. As a result, we were eventually the only people left sitting in the coffee shop.
In due course, Her Majesty and Prince Phillip arrived with their entourage and were met by senior members of the hotel staff and management who had lined up along the passage between the coffee shop and the reception. She then proceeded to move down the line and greet some of the staff, stopping every few steps to have a brief chat.
In order to view the procession better, I positioned myself in between some pot plants near the entrance of the coffee shop just beyond where the line of staff ended. When Her Majesty reached the end of the line, she turned and looked directly at me standing in amongst the pot plants, hesitated, looked me up and down with a puzzled expression on her face and then proceeded to the lift nearby.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of that lift to hear what Her Majesty’s comment might have been about the man in the suit standing in amongst the flowers! With her sense of humour, I’m sure it would have been priceless!
Nick McConnell
My parents are staying with me at present and we saw your request for stories about meeting the Queen.
I apologise for this late entry but have been away from home.
As you know my mom has visual difficulties and so has requested that I send in her story about meeting the Queen to you. This is her story as told to me:
I have had contact with Queen Elizabeth of England on four occasions. The first when Princess Elizabeth visited Aliwal North in 1948.
I was a border at the Holy Cross Convent and at the age of seven was chosen by the nuns to present the Princess with a bouquet of flowers at the sports grounds. The night before I had my hair put into ringlets and was made to practise curtseying.
After presenting her with flowers, my father drove the family out of Aliwal North along the Burgersdorp road. He parked the car just where the train with the Royal family on, had to cross the road. We didn't wait too long when along came the train.
Princess Elizabeth was standing at an open window and as she passed us she recognised me as the little girl who had given her the flowers. She laughed and waved and blew us kisses which we returned with much glee.
A few years later when Queen Elizabeth married Prince Phillip, I had another contact with her. A good friend of my parents was head of the Girl Guides of Southern Africa. She was invited as a result to the Queen's wedding.
Girl Guides from all over the world were invited and were given their own wedding cake.
On returning to South Africa,
During the visit of the Royal family to South Africa in 1947, Jenny's grandfather, Frank Whitney, was the mayor of Ficksburg.
The Royal family arrived on the White train and Jenny had the privilege of presenting the Queen, who was later known as the Queen Mother, with a bouquet, with Princess she came to visit us and brought a piece of wedding cake with her. She gave me the cake and told me to put it under my pillow, I would then dream of the man that I would marry. Guess what - I ate the cake!
Years later when I was 22 years old, a friend and I travelled all over Europe and Great Britain for six months.
Whilst walking along a country road in Scotland, with Balmoral Estate on the left I had another contact with Queen Elizabeth. On the right side of the road was a small church and parked outside the church were some black cars.
I suggested to my friend that we wait alongside the road leading to Balmoral Estate to see who was in the cars. The first car to drive towards us stopped next to where we stood.
Sitting in the back seat was Queen Elizabeth with her two young children, Charles and Anne, on either side of her! They must have been about 10 and 11 years old.
The Queen tapped the driver on his shoulder and told him to stop. She then wound down her window and asked us where we had come from. I told her, South Africa, and asked her if she remembered being given flowers in Aliwal North by a little girl.
When I told her that I was that little girl, she clapped her hands and laughed and said that she did remember! She was so pleased to talk to me as I stood at her open window. We had a lovely chat and when she drove off we again blew kisses to each other! We then continued on our way down the road to where the Highland Games had been held the previous day.
June Baxter (nee'Bradfield)
Elizabeth standing next to her.
She remembers how beautiful the two princesses looked. What a thrill it was for her. Many years later, Jenny and I received a card from the Queen, delivered to Amberglen by the British High Commission, congratulating us on our diamond wedding anniversary.
Jenny and Noel Pickering