Deadpan humour and a muddy rescue – public recall memories of meeting Queen

Members of the public have recalled their fond memories of meeting the Queen, encountering her “deadpan” sense of humour and even helping her out of a muddy predicament.

Buckingham Palace announced the Queen had died on Thursday evening, prompting people to share their stories of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch.

Thom Goddard, 46, from London cast his memory back almost 30 years to a chance meeting with the Queen, whom he says was in a spot of bother at the time.

“It was Easter 1994 and I was walking with my mum, Liza Goddard, and my step-father, David Cobham, at Holkham in Norfolk,” he told the PA news agency.

“We came out of the trees and saw a Range Rover with a horse box stuck in the mud. We walked over and offered our help only to be shocked by finding the Queen, all alone.

“She’d gone for an early morning ride at Holkham beach, close to the family home of Sandringham.

“In fact, we only discovered it was the Queen when she wound down her window, waved her car phone and said: “I have no connection. Would one mind giving one a push?”

“And so we did. And she got out of the mud. And then drove off without saying ‘thank you’! Still makes me smile and a nice way of remembering her.”

Florence Hazrat, 35, meanwhile, met the Queen in 2017 during her time as a PhD scholar at Cumberland Lodge, a charity “that empowers people to tackle the causes and effects of social division”.

Ms Hazrat, who is from Berlin but lived in the UK for 13 years, told PA: “In 2017, we received invitations to meet the Queen and Prince Philip who were visiting the lodge. So all scholars of all years who were able to come attended.

“The Queen came to our group, gave each of us her hand, and asked each of us individually what our research was about. She also asked each of us specific questions to our research.

“I felt like she was very present, and she managed to really address each one of us, making us kind of feel special. She took us seriously, and valued us.

“Then one of us, a bit of a cocky law student, tried to joke with her, and made a comment about her meeting Theresa May, and Brexit and all that. I can’t remember the exact comment, but he sort of wanted to poke her a little.

“But she just shut him down with a deadpan answer. We laughed and she stayed completely serious and he was put in his place!”

In a tweet, Ms Hazrat wrote of her encounter: “She was super sharp, asking incisive questions about our research and making her own dead-pan jokes. She seemed to have integrity, intelligence and a cool head. She’ll be missed.”

Meg Reid, who lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina, told PA about her fond memory of the Queen, whom she met in 1994 when she was seven.

“I met her in Halifax in August of 1994 during the royal visit to Canada. I lived in Sydney (Cape Breton) at the time and we were visiting Halifax the same week the royals were there,” the 35-year-old said.

“So we went to the parade. My sister and I were able to squeeze, along with two other kids, right to the barrier’s edge.

“The Queen walked right to us and said hello to the whole group. She asked us if we were on our summer holidays. I was too nervous to say much more than yes”.

She added that The Queen “exuded kindness and that she “felt very special to me” and “smelled very sweet”.

“Maybe my brain has assigned the smell to peaches because of her peach outfit”, she said.

Katherine Murphy, 54, from Northern Ireland, met the Queen in December 2005 while working for Belfast Central Mission, a charity.

Ms Murphy said the meeting was “a really special day” for the children who met her.

“I was there with a group of young people who lived in supported accommodation and the Queen met our group and spoke to the young people,” she said.

“She made each of us feel like we were the only ones in the room, she didn’t rush and she was so kind, making eye contact and really listening to everyone. We all felt like we’d experienced something really special.

“Her eyes were violet blue and she was really beautiful. I know that seems a bit superficial but that’s my recollection.

“And the young people she met were so delighted to meet her. A lot of them came from disadvantaged backgrounds so it was a really special day for them.”