‘She makes you feel like you’re the most important person’
Those who have met the Queen describe warmth and sense of humour that put them at their ease
For some it’s a respectful bow, for others it’s a gentle curtsy. But what is really said in the presence of Her Majesty is seldom heard. Invariably, television microphones are switched off, notepads are put away, and the chance of a recorded conversation are slim if not impossible.
However, many of those who have had the privilege of meeting the Queen have revealed to The Sunday Telegraph pleasantries and witticisms that take place behind closed doors.
Jeremy Houghton
In 2014, Jeremy Houghton spent six months living in Windsor Castle as the Queen’s resident artist.
The 47-year-old was tasked with presenting a portfolio of work to the monarch at the end of his stay that would “tell the story of the castle”, which led him to choose the Queen’s horses and stables as a muse.
“I just basically got a licence to sort of roam around Windsor Castle and produce a body of work telling the story of the castle,” he said. “I very much felt that the stables and the mews where they keep all the horses was the heartbeat of the place and through the roles of the horses you got a very interesting perspective of both public life and private life for the Queen.”
When he finally presented the final 50 paintings to her at Buckingham Palace, propped up on easels, he was taken aback by her knowledge about each horse he had chosen to paint.
“I’d done pictures of ponies, racehorses, carriage ponies, the Duke of Edinburgh’s ponies, you know, all sorts, and she knew about the breeding and the lineage and the names and everything about each and every horse.
“She was an absolute encyclopaedia when it came to the horses and their background,” he said.
Victoria English
At a Buckingham Palace Garden Party in 2019 Victoria English had a taste of the Queen’s sense of humour.
The 53-year-old mental health campaigner said she was “shocked” to have the “iconic lady in front of me”.
“It was her sense of humour that got me,” Ms English said, adding: “I thought it would be really inclement weather for the garden party and I said ‘this is such a beautiful day today, I bet you’re glad that the weather is so great today…
“And that’s when she had a sense of humour and said, with a twinkle in her eye, ‘one does worry about the weather when one invites 8,000 people to your garden for tea’.
“Just her warmth and her ability to be able to relate to you and you really felt that you were the only person that she was interested in talking to,” Ms English said.
“You didn’t feel that she was just passing the time of day but she really was genuinely interested and I’m just amazed by her stamina and her incredible ability to show that interest and to make you feel that you’re worth speaking to,” she added.
Alison Mihail
Alison Mihail, a retired teacher and Prince’s Trust volunteer, was asked to give the Queen a tour of a schools event in Berkshire during the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002.
Included in her responsibilities was to present the Queen with a gift made by the schoolchildren: dog bowls for her nine corgis hand painted with their names.
The Queen’s interest was initially focused on a display on the other side of the room. “I had to actually get her to turn right around 180 degrees to look at these children with the bowls and I remember thinking ‘you can’t touch her, so how do I get her to turn around?’ Well she obliged, I can’t remember how I did that,” Ms Mihail said.
The Queen inspected all the bowls when the children presented them and exclaimed “he’s the noisy one” to one of the nine names painted on the sides.
The 76-year-old, who was awarded an MBE for her services to the Prince’s Trust, was later told the bowls had been put “straight to use” at Buckingham Palace and how much the Queen had appreciated the thoughtful gift.
Mike Elkerton MBE
Despite being introduced to thousands at engagements and visits, the Queen often manages to make people feel as if they are meeting someone they know.
After being awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2016 for his services to disabled people in Britain, Mike Elkerton also wished the Queen an early Happy 90th Birthday, to which she responded: “How nice and thank you so much.”
“It was an amazing privilege to meet her and actually it was just like meeting someone you knew, just like a friend in that respect,” he said.
The 78-year-old, who was in a wheelchair for five years after an accident in 1993, previously served as chairman for the Access Association in north-west England and has audited big venues around the country.
He said that after she had pinned the badge onto his lapel she proceeded to ask him how difficult it was to audit Wembley stadium.
“I was just absolutely shocked that the Queen knew something about that.”
Adam Tallis
A former role in catering for the Buckingham Palace garden parties allowed Adam Tallis to come face to face with the Queen on multiple occasions.
“The most amazing thing about her is she remembered she met you before and put you at ease. When she speaks to you, you feel like you are the most important person in the world.
“I think you have that sense of anticipation with meeting her, and you know ‘will I get it right, but I get it wrong?’ and she basically puts you totally at ease from the moment you meet her,” he said.