60 Years in the South East The Queen and I

She stepped out of the car and I was expecting her to be in her

finery with her crown and I looked at her and I thought, oh, she looks

like quite a normal lady really. The first time I met her I said I'm

the new Lord Lieutenant and she said, that's obvious. Which it was

of course, it was an asinine remark to make. She had been quite moody

that day because she had been stuck in traffic. -- I thought she would

be quite moody. She told me to toughen up and I thought, oh, God,

can't argue with that, especially coming from her. She was lovely to

look at. Much more beautiful than perhaps you would think. She was

more smiley then I expected and, if it's possible, she was a little

more normal. Everyone loves an excuse to party. And what better

excuse than the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. But if you ever wondered

what the Queen is really like, in this programme we are going to see

her Majesty through the eyes of people who have actually met her,

people who can say with confidence, She stepped out of the car and I

was expecting her to be in her finery with her crown and I looked

at her and I thought, oh, she looks like quite a normal lady really. It

is June the 3rd 2012 and we are here in Royal Tunbridge Wells

celebrating the reign of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Throughout those 60 years she has touched the lives of many people

here in the South East but before we meet some of them let's remind

ourselves how it all began. A new day dawns. Slowly the first

rays of chill light creep across the face of the Royal city,

lighting upon thousands huddled along the route.

June 2nd, 1953, and the country is poised for the Queen's coronation.

Her Majesty had taken the throne the previous year but this was the

official ceremony and the country's chance to rejoice. The streets of

Brighton were decked out with flags and bunting. It was the biggest

celebration since the end of World War Two.

The throb of excitement grows for within the Palace the Queen

prepares to arrive at Westminster and now to herald her the trumpets

ring out. Right across the world 20 million

people were watching, crowded around neighbours' new TV sets as

the Queen entered Westminster Abbey But for a schoolboy who would later

become a head teacher at St Aubyns School in Rottingdean there was no

need for a television set because he was right in the middle of the

ceremony. Julian James was just 14 years old when he was picked to

take part in the Coronation as a page boy and perhaps not

surprisingly he was nervous. Terrified. Absolutely terrified. We

all were. But somehow you are given an inner strength, I think, on

these occasions. We happened to be the line of pages

in front of the Queen so we were told to turn around and face her

when everybody else was facing the other way. We got a magnificent

view and that was a very special Whilst Julian was standing feet

from the monarch, many miles away, back in Kent and Sussex, neighbours

and friends had gathered to celebrate the crowning of the Queen.

They would all be making cakes and jelly and trifle and setting the

tables and decorating the windows and flags going and everything like

that. So it would have been a very happy time, yes, a very happy time.

Joy, seen here in a photo taken on the day of the Coronation in Sussex

Terrace in Brighton, was an excited child at the time but she

appreciates that for her parents it was more than an excuse to party.

It marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. For the

adults it was a very sad day when her father died so I think

everybody was looking forward to the day she became Queen. Yes, it

was hopeful, I think, put it that way. It was giving hope for the

future. And people here in the South East

had every reason to feel optimistic about the new monarch's reign. Just

a few months earlier, during some of the worst flooding seen for

decades, her Majesty had already proved her commitment to the region.

Kent was one of the areas badly affected and down the Thames came

not just floodwater but the new Queen as well. She stopped first

briefly in Gravesend to meet those tasked with clearing the area

before continuing down the river to Earith. Thousands gathered to see

her Majesty arriving at the town hall. Environmental health officer

Peter Hickson was there. Because she was new in the job

there must have been quite a lot of excitement? Yes. We are talking a

young monarch paying a visit here and everybody was pleased that she

had taken time off to come here. A great day for them in what was a

very traumatic experience. -- just a break for them. The Queen might

have been young but she certainly had style.

She looked beautiful. She was in a fur coat that shone even in the dim

light of the foyer. The mayor of course was with her fair coat but

of slightly less quality I think. Very nice but, as fur coats go...

You felt you were in the presence of royalty? Oh, yes.

There are plenty of photos to remind Peter of the day and of

course a signature as well. Signed on 13th February, a short

while after the floods, of course, and of course, as always, one

signature on one page. Very distinguished book. You remember

the signature going in? Absolutely. I was only 8 ft away. For most

people who get to meet the Queen it is just a one-off brief encounter

but for a Sussex vicar in the 1970s the Queen became an annual fixture

at his Sunday services. Reverend Canon Bill Peters was rector at

Little Horsted and whether the Queen came to visit Lord Neville

she would always insist on going to the service, a service which would

be packed out because the local newsagent loved to gossip.

When the Queen stayed at Horstead place they ordered an extra

newspaper. It was the Sporting Life. The horses, the races, you see. And

whenever the newsagent got the order with this extra paper he knew

it was the Queen and I think he told, and I don't blame him.

Before each service the Queen would walk through the churchyard with

Reverend Canon Peters but that was not an easy walk to make.

It was a terribly narrow pathway, only room for one person. She had

one foot on the asphalt and one on the grass and I used to say, ma'am,

you walk on the pathway, I will walk on the grass. But she was

lovely, lovely to look at. Much more beautiful than perhaps you

would think. And so it was a rather striking

queen that would sit in church giving Reverend Canon Peters her

full attention as he delivered his sermon. She did listen intensely.

She looked at you, which was nice, actually. Quite powerful when

somebody looks at you, somebody like that, when you are giving a

service? It is always powerful when a pretty girl looks at you, you

know. From supporting those in need to

communicating with a spiritual leader, it was apparent that the

Queen had a great ability to communicate with all classes of

society, but her role was not just a personal one, she was also a

symbol of growth and change. For every major transport development

in the South East the Queen has been there to officially declare it

open, starting in 1958 with the newly expanded Gatwick Airport. It

was a �7 million expansion intended to take pressure off London Airport

by handling one airplane every three minutes. Its control tower is

still around, as is one of its former air traffic controllers,

Basil Blackwell. Basil was there the day the Queen arrived on the

airplane parking area. She came on to the apron and

everybody was standing up to attention at the time and she came

along and she talked to individuals. It was an important day and I feel

like it set the airport up well, from this country's point of view.

33 years later, in 1991, the South East saw another major transport

development. The Queen Elizabeth II Just take 145,000 cubic metres of

concrete, 90,000 tonnes of steel and 48,000 gallons of paint and mix

steadily with ingenuity for three years. -- 19,000 tonnes of steel.

Then add the final ingredient, the Queen, and you have the official

opening of what was at the time Europe's largest cable supported

bridge. Also in attendance, BBC Newsroom South East reporter Robin

Gibson. So after all the effort the

Dartford bridge is up and running smoothly.

That was Robin then and this is Robin today. 21 years might have

passed but the memory is intact. It was not much of a secret that it

was going to be called the Queen Elizabeth bridge but it was a

bigger event because the Queen was coming, there was all the security

you might expect, possibly even tighter in those days, there were

ranks of satellite trucks underneath the bridge, the police

were there in force, it was a great big fun day, if you like.

A day made even more fun by a queen that seemed to be on particularly

humorous form. The extension of the M25 in the

1980s has led to ever greater traffic pressure. Perhaps

exemplified for many by the familiar radio announcements about

the length of the tailback of the Dartford tunnel.

She was on form, I mean, she was coming out with quips that perhaps

you did not normally get when the Queen made a speech. You expected

it to be a bit stuffy and predictable but she was talking

about the traffic reports she had heard, knowing that the bridge

meant something in the Palace. Was Robin on form? After all it was

an official occasion. You think, I am going to get bossed

about all day. I will be standing there in a huddle of reporters. But

what happens when the Queen turns up is people come out and you see

our country having fun. People turn up to see the Queen and of that

kind of changes it. It changes the atmosphere, bring out the Queen and

out comes Britain. It certainly does. There was no

shortage of guests to witness the Queen's opening of the Channel

Tunnel at Folkestone in 1994, and come 2005 people turned out in

their thousands in Dover when the Queen came to open berths four and

five at the docks. Looking on was Alan Willett, at the time Lord

Lieutenant of Kent. He was in the post for nine years and it was his

office that was responsible for all royal visits. He met the Queen

numerous times but it was the first meeting that stands out the most

because of a rather cutting remark from her Majesty.

The first time I met her I said, I remember saying, because I met her

out at Canterbury, upon the barracks there, where she had

landed by helicopter. I said, I'm the new Lord Lieutenant. She said,

that's obvious. Which it was of course, it was an asinine remark to

make. Things might have got off on the

wrong foot but they did get better. Obviously you had good days and bad

but as time went by things got easier with her and she would start

to refer to you as Alan and you were quite relaxed.

Allan says that over the years it became obvious what the Queen

really liked. You soon learned that what they

want, what the royals want, all the royals, is they love a first rate

cock-up. They love it. You meet the wrong person and you call people by

the wrong names, things like that, they would roar with laughter. She

was terribly amused by that. Pretty soon you don't worry, you cease to

worry about there being... What they don't want is people being

frightfully rigid. They want you to be relaxed and amusing and just

sort of chat to them really. Trying to be relaxed and amusing

around the Queen is hard enough if you are an adult. What is it like

if you are a child? On 11th November of 2011 Harrison was about

Harrison lives in Broadstairs and he is like most 11-year-old boys

except for one thing, his birthday is special. He was born on the 11th

of the 11th in the year 2000, meaning that on 11th November last

year he would be 11 years old. If you are the Queen visiting Margate

on the 11th of the 11th of the 11th, the chances are you are going to

want to meet him. So before he knew it Harrison was at the Turner

Gallery waiting for the Queen to arrive, and waiting, and waiting.

We were there in the freezing cold just waiting for her to come.

she was late? Yeah. On your birthday? Yes, 30 minutes late.

That is a bit rude. Yeah. But there was no mistaking when her

Majesty did arrive. When the Queen got out of the car

she had a pink dress and pink lipstick on and everybody just

started screaming. So I was almost deaf that day, there was that much

screaming. With his meeting moments away,

Harrison was particularly nervous because he was worried the Queen

might be in a bit of a grump. I thought she would be quite moody

that day because she was stuck in traffic most of the way. And she

had too much people trying to, like, have pictures with her, trying to

give her flowers, stuff like that. You think that would have put you

in a bad mood? Yeah. Really. But he needn't have worried.

Prince Philip pointed to me. He said a few words, I see it's your

birthday today, how are you? I said, OK. The Queen looked at me and said,

happy birthday, and I said thank you, ma'am. Was that it? Yes. And

she got into the car and drove off. Quite exciting though. Yeah, really

exciting. Best birthday? Yeah, definitely.

Harrison has not forgotten the moment and he will not let his

family forget either. He did not stop going on about it,

before and after. What kind of occasions does he bring it up?

we have arguments he will. I met the Queen! He will say that.

It sounds like Harrison will not forget the experience. It is

unlikely any child would. Michael Shorter will vouch for that. The

year was 1962 and the Queen had come to the greyhound stadium in

Hove as part of a tour of the area. At the time Michael was 15 years

old, a member of the Brighton Boys' Brigade and part of a first aid

demonstration that had him laid upon the ground, only able to see

the tyres of the royal visitor. -- laid up on the ground.

When the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen came by in the Royal Land

Rover, I was bandaged up with a splint on my leg, tied up with

bandages so I could not move, I was flat on my back. Everybody was

standing up and could see and I was lying on the ground swathed in

bandages and they actually stopped and said to me something like, I

hope they will let you out of that later. I did not think a lot of it

to begin with but afterwards you sort of reflect on it and you think,

it is a bit of a privilege here that they actually stopped and

shared some time with me. If a 15-year-old, Michael, was

surprised at the Queen, then nine- year-old Kerry Martin had every

reason to be astounded. It was 1994 and she was excited about the

opening of her new school conservatory at East church primary

full stock she thought it might be nice if the Queen opened it so she

wrote her a letter full stop to her Majesty the Queen, I am nine years

old and go to Eastchurch Primary School. In September we are having

our school extended to enable us to take in more children. Our

headteacher has said many times that he is going to write you to

see if it will be possible for you to visit the school, so now I am

doing it for him. I know you are a very busy person but I wondered if

you could come to the opening of our new school building at some

time next year. If not yourself, possibly another member of your

family. Did you ever think you would get a reply? Definitely not.

I was really shocked, really surprised. When the reply came

through I was so excited, obviously as a nine-year-old, receiving a

letter through the post with the Queen's initials on it and the sign

from Buckingham Palace on the top. It was just wonderful.

The Queen's office had replied to say that a formal invitation must

be sent by the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Kerry assumed nothing would

come of it but for the first time ever the Queen agreed to visit the

Isle of Sheppey. She would be the first monarch to go there since

Henry VIII, and so it was that just over a year after Kerry wrote her

letter her Majesty was scheduled to arrive at the school and Kerry was

going to meet her. But when the Queen came she was not quite what

Kerry was expecting. As she pulled in everybody cheered

as she stepped out of her car and I think, as the nine-year-old, I was

expecting her to be in her finery with a crown and I thought, oh, she

looks like quite a normal lady really.

Kerry performed her curtsey perfectly and had a quick chat.

I just said, welcome to Eastchurch School, your Majesty, as she

thanked me for the flowers and asked some general questions really,

how are you, are you enjoying your day, before proceeding into the

school with the headteacher. As you have grown older, when you

see the Queen on the television, is it a special thing? I think so. I

think I feel quite happy about it. Watching the Royal Wedding and

things like that last year, it felt really nice just to think that

actually she has been a part of my She has played a part in the lives

of children and adults. She has been there for the opening of

airports and even school conservatories, but the Queen has

had another, very important role to play in our region, namely as head

of the armed forces. It is a role not only her Majesty

takes seriously but also those who serve her, as Tilly Lambert

discovered when the Queen visited Maidstone barracks in 2011. Tilly

was there as the girlfriend of a serving soldier but was surprised

at the shift in mood as her Majesty arrived.

The car pulled in and I was expecting cheering or something,

but it was silent. It was almost eerie, it was almost like everybody

knew that she was there, her presence was felt everywhere, and

it was fantastic, everybody whispering, oh, she has turquoise

on, and look at her shoes. There were a few comments behind me, I

like the hat, I wonder where she got it from. As if she had just

gone down to BhS and picked it up! But Tilly was even more surprised

when during her meeting with the Queen she was given a bit of a

talking to. Just as the former Lord Lieutenant of Kent experienced the

slightly more sarcastic side of the Queen, Tilly got the tough side as

she was asked about her boyfriend. She asked how long he had been away

and I said five weeks, but it is not as bad as six months in

Afghanistan, and she told me that I had better toughen up and get used

to if I wanted an army life. It was fantastic. You weren't expecting

that? Definitely not. I got almost slammed by the Queen and she told

me to toughen up and I thought, can't argue with that, especially

not from the Queen! Did it come across as rude or just kind advice?

A bit of both, really, you don't expect the Queen to say something

like that but it was with a little smile like that so you knew the

right reasons were there. Meeting the Queen is perhaps easier

if you are in familiar surroundings, but what is it like to meet her on

her own patch? Namely, Buckingham Palace. Last year that is exactly

what a Brighton-based former England women's captain, Clare

Connor, did when she had lunch with the Queen and nine other invited

guests, including a rather famous Formula One racing driver. --

cricket captain. I arrived at the same time as Lewis

Hamilton, which was fantastic, and we walked in together and he was

clearly really nervous. He was like an eight-year-old boy, it was so

funny, he was visibly quaking. And that kind of put me at ease a bit.

If Clare and Lewis were nervous that lunch was going to be awkward,

they needn't have worried. The Queen clearly knew how to make her

guests feel at ease. When they arrived, where we were

having drinks, the Queen arrived with Prince Philip and three of the

corgis and that immediately made you think, this feels relaxed, this

is her at home almost, this is her in her territory, and making us

feel relaxed. A couple of drinks arrived for her and Prince Philip

so there was the gin and Dubonnet in the little tumbler. And I think

half a bitter for him, which I thought was funny. They took their

drinks and immediately started mingling before lunch and there was

immediately that real that sense of, well, this is just lovely, this is

being hosted by the most wonderful figurehead in our country, but she

is talking to us, immediately connecting with us, and the corgis

were kind of yapping around and she was there with a drink and it was

just the most surreal experience. After drinks the guests sat at an

oval table with Clare next to Prince Philip and the Queen sitting

opposite with Lewis Hamilton. Being used to high-pressure situations,

his early nerves had disappeared. He was now confident to start

bantering with the Queen about driving.

He had literally just flown in from, I think, the Brazilian Grand Prix,

and he asked her what car she drove, and she said, a big range Rover of

course to fit all of the corgis in. You don't imagine her driving, do

you? She has people to get behind the wheel for her, so that was a

nice touch, to hear that she would bundle the corgis in and go for a

nice drive in the countryside. Clare had had the rare opportunity

to see the Queen in her home environment and it is an afternoon

she will never forget. As I left and I walked up to

Victoria Station I thought, wow, that is just one for the memory box

because that is, you know, just very very special and I felt very

Those who have met the Queen have discovered her Majesty is a woman

with many sides to her character. She can be kind and patient but she

can also be tough on you at times and even a little sarcastic. So,

while she might live in a palace and wear a crown, it turns out the

Queen is not so different from you and I.

She has had the same challenges as we have had in the community with

our own families and she has been faithful to us as a person who

governs and we look up to her. does a lot for this country, I

think she is a very nice woman. think she is absolutely amazing

really for her age. Watching her on the television today I thought was

just fabulous. She is a fantastic role model, she has been great for

the country and I am not alone in wishing that all the best a 60

Elisabeth crowned their head of a great family of nations. Long may

she reign. It has been a long and eventful

reign but if you have ever wondered what has driven her Majesty to

continue in her role, spare a moment to consider the thoughts of

the former Lord Lieutenant of Kent, a man with his own unique take on

our Queen. She sort of grows on you really. I

think it is her sense of duty which makes her what she is and she tries