‘Princess Anne asked if her mum had been telling me about the new corgis...then said they were a menace’

THE CHARITY FUNDRAISER

It is a moment Scott Cunningham will never forget.

The award-winning fundraising champion, who is blind, could scarcely believe it when the Queen approached him at an event at Holyrood in Edinburgh and crouched down to clap his loyal guide dog, Travis.

“I had been told she was wearing a long black dress with a green stripe down the side, so when I realised she had bent down to pet Travis, who was lying down, I said to her, ‘I beg your pardon if you get covered in hairs’ but she told me not to apologise and said it was the highlight of her night,” Cunningham, from Larkhall in Lanarkshire, recalled.

“She told me she felt more comfortable in the company of dogs and horses and she was so interested in finding out more about guide dogs. I explained how the dogs had saved my life and I had taken on challenges and adventures I would never have dreamed of as a result.

“She was so interested in me living life as a blind person and how I could cope with everything, thanks to my guide dog.”

Cunningham, who lost his sight nearly 30 years ago due to a degenerative condition, had been invited to the 2009 event, which marked 10 years since the Scottish Parliament opened, by his then-MSP,

Karen Gillon.

“Karen tells me she remembers the smile on the Queen’s face as she talked to me about guide dogs,” said Cunningham.

“As a big royalist, I was bursting with pride to be there but we had been told it was unlikely Her Majesty or the Princess Royal, who was also in attendance, would have time to talk to anyone.

“Then, just a few steps before I entered the room, I was told we would be saying hello to both of them. I had no time to be nervous, so I said,

‘Very pleased to meet you, ma’am’ and moved on. I was already on cloud nine, but when Her Majesty came over to me later and said she was pleased to meet me, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

“I shook her hand twice, and she told me she could happily stand and talk to me all night, and that she didn’t mind her dress being covered in Travis’s hair. She was so at ease with Travis. She talked about how much she loved the countryside and everything about Scotland, and then told me about her new pack of corgis.

“Princess Anne, who I’d met previously at the opening of the RNIB centre in Edinburgh, then came over and asked if her mother had told me about her new corgis. I said she had and Princess Anne told me they were menaces!”

The Queen had a love of animals from a young age and described her corgis as family. Her parents first acquired a corgi, Dookie, in 1933, and when she was 18 she was gifted her own, called Susan. Every one of her more than 30 corgis since was descended from Susan.

She bred and raced horses for more than six decades, and also owned Labradors, cocker spaniels and a dorgi – a corgi and dachshund cross – over the years.

Cunningham, who was made an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2011 – meeting Princess Anne with Travis at his side – has now raised almost £300,000 for charity but says nothing will ever top the moment he met the Queen.

“She commended me on my positive attitude and said it was a pleasure

and an inspiration to meet me. Me, from a council house in Larkhall, being called an inspiration by the Queen? I couldn’t believe it. I remember every single second of meeting this incredible monarch who meant so much to me and my family.” Scott Cunningham becomes an MBE in 2011 with Travis