The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Carnoustie girl ‘over the moon’ thanks to letter from the Queen
Natasha had sent her own message to the monarch thanking her for awarding grandad Mike a BEM
A personal thank you letter from the Queen has left a four-year-old Angus girl “over the moon” and dreaming of a visit to Buckingham Palace.
Natasha Ord from Carnoustie will have quite the tale to tell when she starts primary school next month.
She had sent off a hand-drawn thank you card to the monarch after her grandad, Mike Robertson, was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
The honour sparked Natasha’s interest in the monarch, heightened recently after a visit to Balmoral Castle on Royal Deeside.
Natasha’s mum Leona said: “My dad was awarded a BEM for his services to music.
“We had all been discussing it and Natasha suddenly became really fascinated with the Queen.
“We went to Balmoral to show her where the Queen lives at times and she decided to write a thank you card, which we sent to Buckingham Palace.
“She drew a picture of the Queen wearing a crown.”
As chance would have it, Natasha’s dad Scott had just finished reading his daughter the book The Big Red Balloon by Anne Fine – which tells the tale of a girl who gets a letter from the Queen and gets to visit her at Buckingham Palace – when the royal letter arrived.
Leona, 36, continued: “You couldn’t make it up.
“Natasha didn’t believe it and thought we had written it.
“She phoned everybody to let them know, she was so delighted.
“She is now hoping she will be asked to Buckingham Palace with my dad.”
The letter was sent on the Queen’s behalf by lady-in-waiting Jennifer Gordon Lennox.
She wrote: “The Queen wishes me to thank you for the colourful card you have made for Her Majesty.
“The Queen thought it very kind of you to write to her as you did and I am to thank you very much for your lovely message.”
The writing paper and envelope were adorned with the Queens’ royal crest and will take pride of place in a frame in the family’s Ferrier Street home.
Leona continued: “Dad hasn’t got a date yet for receiving his BEM.
“Natasha was over the moon to receive the letter.”
Michael Robertson, conductor of the Carnoustie and District Youth Brass Band, was awarded the BEM for services to music in Angus.
He was also conductor of the Carnoustie High School Brass Band which last year became the first such British school band to perform in China.