An Aberdeenshire woman has recalled the “special” moment she met the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Griselda McGregor, a retired journalist from Inverurie, met the Queen at the London palace back in 2005 in recognition of her voluntary work for the environment.
During her short meeting with Her Majesty, The Queen asked her where she was from and when she told her Aberdeenshire, there was a “glint in her eyes”.
‘Very fond memories of Aberdeenshire’
Ms McGregor said: “She seemed to be reacting as if she had very fond memories of Aberdeenshire with Balmoral, she sort of said ‘oh’.”
The Queen was accompanied at the reception by some other members of the Royal Family and Ms McGregor says that she worked the room speaking to people individually.
“For the brief moment you had, you just felt you were the only person in the world,” she said of her chat with Her Majesty.
‘I told everybody I was going’
The trip to Buckingham Palace was one of great excitement for her, saying “I told everybody I was going before I went there”.
Before her meeting in London, Ms McGregor consulted, the then Gordon MSP Nora Ratcliffe, saying: “I said, ‘should I wear a hat or not?’ So I was getting all the advice I could before I went.”
When she arrived back in Aberdeenshire, she decided to write a poem as a “tribute” to her visit to the UK capital to meet Her Majesty, which she calls a “very special occasion”.
There was a typical North-east feel to her poem, titled “Royal Command”, which was written in Doric at one of local author’s Sheena Blackhall’s sessions on the language.
Royal Command
Buckingham Palace! Me!
Noo, fit to wear?
To hat, or not to hat?
Foo will I get there?
Train or plane?
Far will I lay ma heid?
A’ done by the magic of computer
Michty! Queen! She’s here
Richt in front o’ me
Fit should I dae?
Curtsey or jist smile?
“Have you come far” she kindly asks
“Aberdeenshire,” I reply
Bobbing at the knee
Thinking she’d maybe nae heard o’ Inverurie
“Oh how marvellous” says she
And I’m sure I see
A glimmer of fond memories
Licht her e’e
‘She never put a foot wrong’
Looking back at the Queen’s life, Ms McGregor says: “I just think how wonderful she was her whole life. From the very beginning, she never put a foot wrong.”
Although Ms McGregor’s meeting with the Queen was 17 years ago, she said: “It’s still so very fresh in my mind, I couldn’t believe it was so long ago.”
“Not one moment of that brief meeting has ever been forgotten. I still think my mention of Aberdeenshire sparked happy memories for her.”
Conversation