No handshakes for us, just a sweet smile
ONE thing is abundantly clear in the wake of Her Majesty The Queen’s very sad passing – TV companies will not be beating a path to my door for Royal anecdotes. Messrs Gyles Brandreth and Robert Lacey seem to have cornered the market (and the TV sofas) for most broadcasts – and very good they are, too!
The reality is that I was slow out of the blocks reacting to the death of The Queen – the lack of a mobile phone signal on a midweek break in mid Wales meant that my editor’s pleas to ‘log in and help out’ were lost in the ether.
Being in mid Wales did, however, allow time for a little reflection on The Queen’s very first visit (as Monarch) to Wales.
It was in 1952 to open the Claerwen Dam in Powys. The dam, is, of course, part of the Elan Valley network of reservoirs, created to serve the people of Birmingham with water.
At my ‘midweek digs’ at The Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells, there is a framed feature in the lobby of memorabilia from that first visit.
The souvenir programme gives details of the Royal Train’s arrival and departure from Llandrindod Wells railway station and offers a glimpse into the ‘Royal picnic lunch,’ which was taken at the Claerwen Dam.
My stomach rumbled while reading the menu: ‘Saumon d’ecosse Fume au Citron; Tortue Verte Amontillado; Cotelette d’agneu Nicoise, petits pois frais, pommes chateau; Salade Milady; Cerises Flambees Jubilees, Bombe Favorite, Friandises; Fromage; Dessert; Cafe.’
Personally, I’d have gone with more Welsh references than French cuisine for a lunch in the picturesque Elan Valley, but I am willing to guess that the civic dignitaries (who included Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Radnorshire, Brigadier Sir Michael Dillwynvenables-llewelyn, Bt, MVO) were suitably impressed.
Her Majesty was, of course, to visit Wales many times during her reign, until her final trip last year for the official opening of the Senedd.
Down the years, I covered many of the Royal visits, including one, on June 12, 2002, when The Queen opened The Millennium Coastal Park in Llanelli as part of her Golden Jubilee Tour of Wales.
Top tip for visitors to Llanelli here: just look for the cormorant and you’ll find out more – and don’t forget to scan the nearby red bricks; they contain some familiar names of people who helped launch the coastal park!
My very first HM The Queen encounter was in July, 1983.
Queen Elizabeth II was at a service at Brecon Cathedral to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon.
In those days, royal visits in the middle of Wales didn’t attract massive press packs and there were only two of us ‘hacks’ at the event.
Even, then, we managed to get into trouble.
We were loitering near the handshake line-up as the Rt Rev Benjamin Vaughan, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, did the introductions of the great and good. For one second, we thought Her Majesty was going to shake our hands... until an aide gently stepped in and whispered ‘‘Ma’am (pronounced with a short ‘a,’ of course), it’s The Press”.
No handshakes for us. But she did manage a sweet smile in our direction.
Fast forward to 2009 and my most recent ‘encounter’ with Her Majesty – a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
Again, no handshake – but I am sure there was a smile of recognition as her mind probably flashed back to July, 1983, and Brecon Cathedral!
The day of the garden party had started in glorious sunshine – but, halfway through my beautifully-sliced cucumber sandwich, a thunder and lightning storm of Biblical proportions broke out, bringing a premature end to the day’s celebrations.
We walked out of the Palace grounds along paths flooded four inches deep in water.
The dress and high heels were ruined.
At this point, and for the sake of clarification, I should add that the dress and high heels were worn by my wife!
As for our new King, Charles III, we have had half a dozen encounters and a few conversations down the years.
I’ve used this column before to explain how I’ve visited his house – and he once visited mine.
The visit to the Lloyd ‘ancestral home’ happened back in October, 1987.
My mum was ‘in residence’ at the family home in Southern Terrace, Pensarn,
Carmarthen, when ‘The Great Flood’ hit the Tywi Valley.
The house was wrecked by the power of the flood waters and the disaster prompted a Royal visit by Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.
At the time, the Royal marriage was reportedly on the rocks, so the world’s press was in attendance.
Special Branch and the Royal protection officers had done a ‘security sweep’ of one of the houses a few doors down from my mum’s mid-terrace to ‘prep’ it for a Royal visit.
But the security guys hadn’t banked on my mum.
She was one of the first to shake the royal hand and guided them into ‘her’ home – prompting a look of panic on the faces of the Royal protection squad.
Prince Charles duly did my mum’s bidding and, along with Princess Di, entered to inspect the damage.
His short tour included one awkward moment where my brother managed to slam the back door on a Royal foot and another awkward moment when Princess Di looked out of the window at the assembled ranks of the world’s media – a hungry press pack eager to examine any chink in the armour of the Royal marriage.
My mum was interviewed after the visit and stayed ‘mum’ about what the Royals had talked about inside the house.
She was asked her age by some daily newspaper reporters. She refused to give it. I think it was The Daily Express reporter who had his revenge when he labelled her in print as ‘grey-haired Mrs Lloyd.’
There are other Royal anecdotes, but I have to leave my desk now as the phone is ringing downstairs.
Could it be Huw Edwards? Perhaps Gyles Brandreth is unavailable today!