Jennie Bond The Day I Met the Queen

90 years ago, our longest serving Monarch,

Queen Elizabeth II was born.

Since then, millions of us have met her

and many have got close.

You're having a good old stare at the Queen, aren't you?

Yes, we are. We had a good view of her.

But how well do we know her and how well does she know us?

She said to me that she doesn't feel

properly dressed without her handbag.

This is Her Majesty as you've never seen her before.

I was completely paralysed as this amazing icon

walked over my gangway

A people's portrait of the Queen.

She is on our stamps and she's on our coins, and she's in our hearts.

How are you doing?

In this series, Ainsley Harriot cooks up a coronation treat in London.

Come on, let's wave together now.

Welcome to my home. Thank you. You like the Queen, don't you?

Aled Jones gets super close with a super fan in Wales.

Look at that. He's practically this close.

And I'll be tracking down people who have met the Queen in a corner

of Britain that has over 700 miles of stunning coastline.

So the sea plays a really important part in people's lives here

and it also lies behind a powerful connection

between this part of Britain and the Queen.

My journey starts right here, in the naval city of Portsmouth.

Four generations of the Queen's family have gone to

sea in Royal Navy ships, some of them from this very port.

From here, I'll be hitting the road to get to the heart

of the Queen's special relationship with the place I call home -

the South West of England.

During 14 years as the BBC's Royal Correspondent,

I was lucky enough to meet the Queen quite a few times,

but she was nearly always on duty and our conversations were

pretty much small talk, so I'm hoping that by meeting people

who've chatted with her in different situations, I might learn

more about the extraordinary woman whose life I've shadowed.

I think she's always very elegantly dressed.

Yeah, good handbags.

We've had the Queen here since the Diamond Jubilee,

back in 2012, here in the market.

When you think she's 90 and she's at her desk

at whatever time it is in the morning.

We've got a new one over here, which we've just had in,

and she looks rather regal in this one.

Happy 90th birthday, we think you do a great job.

We always boast a big turnout for the Queen,

here in the South West.

We brought the entire Navy out to greet the new Queen in 1953.

She launched her Golden Jubilee tour from Falmouth

and almost launched her hat.

Whether opening tin mines or blessing our biggest ships...

May God bless her and all who sail in her.

..we always have a curtsey, bow or salute ready to greet her.

And the Queen has a very personal link to the region.

Her grandfather, her father, her husband

and two of her children began their military careers here.

And, as Head of the Armed Forces, she's a regular visitor

to its many military bases.

BAND PLAYS

She's always taken her forces role extremely seriously

and never more so than back in April 1982, when Britain

held its breath as we went to war with Argentina.

We are here because, for the first time for many years,

British Sovereign territory has been invaded by a foreign power.

Argentina had claimed the Falklands,

a remote British territory 8,000 miles away in the southern Atlantic.

A task force of 100 ships and 27,000 troops had to be scrambled...

..with one aim - getting those islands back.

Aircraft carrier HMS Invincible set out from Portsmouth on April 5th.

On board, over 1,000 servicemen, many facing the full

horror of war for the first time.

They were sailing into the unknown,

but that's not the whole story.

For the Queen, it couldn't have been more personal.

One of those young men was her own flesh and blood,

her middle son Andrew.

As head of the Armed Forces, she had a responsibility to all

the thousands of British servicemen going to war,

but, at that moment, she was first and foremost a mother.

Andrew, a naval helicopter pilot with Invincible, was keen to

get stuck in for his mum, the Queen, and country,

and insisted on front-line duties.

As the task force headed south, the Queen faced weeks of uncertainty.

And it wasn't long before Invincible was in the thick of the action.

Its aircraft provided vital support for an intense battle on land.

I think you've got a picture of you in action,

actually, in the Falklands.

That is me in the middle there,

just about to go off leading a patrol somewhere.

Brigadier Johnny Rickett was Commanding Officer

of the Welsh Guards.

They suffered dreadful losses when HMS Sir Galahad was hit

by Argentine aircraft.

Johnny was already on shore when he heard his men had been attacked.

I was up visiting my forward company and, on the way up,

suddenly two aircraft came over very low...

..and we realised that they were enemy aircraft.

REPORTER: Skyhawks, four or five, came low across the bay

to bomb the two landing ships unloading men and supplies.

One of the ships, Sir Galahad, burst into flames immediately.

Within seconds I was required on the radio.

"Get yourself down to Fitzroy as quick as you can,

"you have got casualties in your battalion coming ashore

"from the Galahad."

With the tears almost running down my cheeks,

I then went back down to Fitzroy to greet the remnants

of my soldiers coming ashore.

From the shore, Johnny witnessed

the full horror of the unfolding nightmare.

REPORTER: Helicopters which had been moving equipment forward

now flocked to help rescue survivors.

On the cliff tops, medical staff waited for the helicopters

to bring the casualties to them.

It was a pretty horrific time because we were under

attack from the Argentine Air Force at that particular time,

and people were running round in a rather desperate state.

REPORTER: In the middle of the airlift,

another air raid was called.

The orderlies kept working, ignoring the crates of ammunition

stacked in the grass around about.

In the confusion, it took hours to find out who'd survived

and who had not.

48 men were killed that day - 32 were from Johnny's Battalion.

So what are your feelings now, looking back on that day?

One of utter sadness, but the point one has to deal with,

as a commander, is to grip things and get people thinking forward

rather than backwards, and I was determined from that moment

the battalion wouldn't look backwards. We must get on.

We still had a role to play.

Johnny's troops went on to play a vital part in re-taking

Port Stanley and winning the war.

There is a white flag flying over Stanley.

Marvellous.

So after the conflict, unsurprisingly,

you were honoured by the Queen, weren't you?

Along with many others, I can assure you. Tell me about that, though.

Well, it was really rather special and tremendous... When I went in,

the Queen, obviously, she talks to everybody who gets a decoration

of some sort, but she seemed to spend a bit longer

and she was very anxious about the families.

Specifically the families affected by the Galahad?

Yes, she was anxious about people's feelings and worries,

and were they still all right... Yeah.

..and it was a very natural conversation. It was wonderful.

Did you feel it was absolutely genuine or she had been briefed?

Not at all. Not at all. I mean look at her face, that is genuine,

a genuine happy smile to be amongst us.

That's me, obviously. She loves her servicemen and women, as you know.

So, it's no surprise that the Queen was at the centre

of an outpouring of love and pride

when her son's ship, Invincible, returned to Portsmouth.

She sailed out to board the carrier

to welcome her son and the crew home.

George Birkett was chief mechanic on board.

He was coming home to his wife Marie and his teenage son.

I think a lot of people will remember the day that the task

force came back to Portsmouth.

It must be seared on your memory. What was it like?

By the time we came into Portsmouth, it was a lovely day

and there was small ships, yachts of every size, escorting us in.

The tugs with the coloured water coming from the canons and thousands

and thousands of people. You could see them and hear them, could you?

Oh, yeah. It must have been so emotional.

Oh, crikey, yeah. Definitely.

# We are sailing

# Home again 'cross the sea... #

After five months, it was party time in Portsmouth,

with Marie one of thousands lining the quay

desperate to be reunited with loved ones.

There were thousands of people. It was just amazing, with the placards,

and banners and all sorts waving around, and I had my own... Did you?

Yes, which said, "Welcome home, George."

It had 143 on there, on the bottom, which stands for I love you.

Oh, I see. One letter in I, four letters in love

and three letters in you. I didn't know that. Wow.

Welcome home, George. You could see that... Could you see that?

Yes, I did eventually, yes.

Meanwhile, on board, Andrew was catching up with his mother

and sharing his thoughts with the press.

I think I've experienced something

very few people are able to experience - loneliness.

When you lie down on the deck, and that moment when

there are missiles and things flying around, at that precise moment,

you are on your own and that is all there is.

You must identify, to some extent,

with how the queen was feeling herself.

You were sending your husband away and welcoming him home and,

for her, it was her son.

I expect she was extremely proud, like we all were.

From the youngest to the oldest person on the ship,

all their relations that come to meet them,

we're just so happy and excited and proud to be there.

She can't really jump up and down and cheer, can she?

She's got to be dignified. No, no, no.

True, but I'm sure inside she wanted to, but she just couldn't. I bet.

While the Queen was on board, no-one could leave the ship.

But when her visit ended, there was no holding them back.

The Queen disembarked first, rightly so,

and then they opened the gangways

and we shot down like heat-seeking ferrets, I suppose.

# Oh, Lord, to be near you to be free

# Oh, Lord, to be near you to be free... #

What was it like, go on, the first embrace back home?

It was quite good.

It was lovely - the first kiss. It was a long wait, it was worth it.

It was lovely. I think George was more emotional than me.

I was just absolutely beaming.

Is it still emotional today?

Certainly, when you think of people you knew who didn't get back,

that is always a bit of a grueller.

Same as all the other guys, First World War, Second Word War,

all the other conflicts, we should never forget...

these people put it on the line

for their country and the Queen, of course.

Listening to George and Marie there really makes you

think how difficult it sometimes be for the Queen.

It was such an emotional homecoming that day

and yet she had this dual role, Head of the Armed Forces,

having to be formal and carry out her duty,

when, in all honesty,

she was probably feeling like every other mum,

just thank goodness my boy has come home safe.

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I'm really lucky to live here, in Devon, because it's

so beautiful, but I've also been very lucky to travel

round the world with the Queen.

I think you really have to be with her and travel with her to see

how incredibly popular she is.

The Queen has said she wants to meet as many people as possible on

this tour and there certainly seem to be thousands who want to see her.

# I've been everywhere man

# Crossed the deserts bare man

# I've breathed the mountain air man

# Of travel I've had my share man

# I've been everywhere... #

She's the world's most travelled monarch.

The Buckingham Palace view of the tour

so far is that it's been a spectacular success.

And armed with my reporter's notebook,

and a fine selection of shoulder pads, I've shadowed

her from India to Australia, Africa to Pakistan.

Jennie Bond, BBC News, Islamabad.

'Back at my home in Devon...'

Hey, Fitz. Jenny. '..friends like my old buddy and fellow broadcaster,

'David Fitzgerald ,were always fascinated to find out whether

'I'd managed to catch a glimpse of the real woman

'behind the royal facade.'

Hey, come in.

I've been looking through some of the bits

and pieces I've collected over the years.

I've got an attic full of them, I tell you.

That's the kind of invitation you get when you are invited

to the palace or the castle. Have you had one?

Yes, I have. Just been the once, yeah. Never likely to go again.

I think the first time

that I did meet her at one of these receptions,

I told her what I thought was a very funny story because

I always like to tell her a funny story or make her laugh in some way.

So I said, "Oh, Ma'am, I'm always standing outside your house,

"chatting to the camera, and I think I wonder if you're in there

"looking out, saying, 'What is that woman talking about now?' "

And I think she enjoyed it.

And I think this picture, here, in which I look like some ghastly

pantomime dame, thinking I'm hysterically funny, cheeks all pink,

you know, "I'm meeting the queen."

Ghastly. But, look, I think she thinks I'm quite amusing.

You also travelled with Her Majesty, which I think that's brilliant.

Where did you get to?

Oh, gosh, we went round the world so many times I can hardly remember,

but I think South Africa was really, really magical.

We went there with the Queen in '95 and it was special for her, as well.

Escorted by a flotilla of small boats,

Britannia sailed into Table Bay, bringing the Queen on one of the

great state occasions of her reign.

It was her first visit since 1947, when she had toured as a love-struck

young princess, newly engaged to Philip.

This time she was meeting the new president, Nelson Mandela.

You could see that this wasn't just another foreign trip.

She wanted to be there and she talked to us about it.

She said, "I'm so excited to come back. It's been nearly 50 years

"since I've seen this country."

I was excited too because the whole of South Africa seemed to

want her to be there.

One of the most memorable events took place in the township

of New Brighton.

There was a man escorting her

and he was brandishing a spear.

He turned out to be a Xhosa tribesman.

They walked up this aisle with him going, "Lalalalalala!"

She came ever so close to me and said, "I do hope he's friendly."

Brilliant! Lovely!

That does sound like a great trip, but did you meet the real Queen?

Of all the times I've met her, I think, in South Africa,

there was some kind of connection between us

and I felt I saw the real woman, the woman who has lots of emotions

and lots of warmth but who, most of the time,

because of her feelings of duty, covers it up and doesn't let

us see beneath that royal facade.

It's been lovely looking back on that trip to South Africa

and I know it meant an awful lot to the Queen, just as her previous

trip had done 50 years earlier, because then she was coming home

to marry her prince -

a love story that began right here in Devon.

I'm heading just 15 miles along the South Hams coast,

up these windy Devon roads, to a place that has launched thousands

of naval careers and one royal romance.

So this is where it all started -

the Britannia Royal Naval College - and it really is a stunning

setting for a love affair that was to last, well, a lifetime.

The Queen has visited the training college many

times as Lord High Admiral of the Navy.

But in 2011, she gave that grand title to her husband,

Philip, as a 90th birthday present.

Now that is love.

And it all began right here, on this croquet lawn, 77 years ago.

College historian Jane Harrold has the pics to prove it.

This is the photo album that belonged

to Captain Dalrymple-Hamilton, who was the captain at the time.

This is just his family album, but he's got the whole day in here,

including some pictures where he clearly saw the significance

of the meeting. Here we have them on the lawn down there,

part of a game of croquet.

This one shows just the two of them together,

perhaps contemplating their next move, who knows?

And so it was that a royal visit in 1939 led to a dashing

young cadet, 18-year-old Prince Philip of Greece,

entertaining the young princesses.

You know, it seems wrong to say that love started here because

the princess was just 13 - she was no more than a child -

but there's no doubt that she found him very attractive, didn't she?

Absolutely. I think she was probably of an age where she was

just starting to appreciate the opposite sex,

so I tend to think of it as a schoolgirl crush.

Well, he was drop dead gorgeous, wasn't he?

Absolutely. He was your Greek Adonis.

He was tall, he was athletic, he was blonde, he was beautiful to look at.

Who wouldn't be impressed?

We've got Princess Elizabeth, she's preparing to take a shot there,

and Prince Philip in the background.

Oh, look, he's just the same, hands behind the back. He still does that!

Obviously a habit he adopted early on and here we can see them

again, looking the other way,

a little bit closer together this time.

Looks like Philip is preparing a shot there

and she's watching very intently. Very attentively. Absolutely.

Eight years later they were married and, 68 years on,

the longest royal marriage in British history

is still going strong.

I just think they are... They were made for one another.

Absolutely. They were the perfect match. Yeah.

What about you? Have you actually met the Queen yourself?

I have met the Queen. I met her the last time she came to the college,

which was in 2008.

I showed her around the museum a little bit and she showed a huge

amount of interest.

It's not just that she was visiting her naval academy.

Her father, her grandfather, her uncles, her sons,

of course, her husband, where she met him.

So she's a proper naval person - a wife, a mother, a grandmother -

so it felt very genuine.

It really was the pinnacle of my career here to meet her.

Navy life, its highs and lows,

were a hot discussion topic on the rather chilly day the Queen

met the college's commanding officer.

Wow! Hello, Captain. How very... Hello, Jennie. ..kind of you.

Hello. Thanks for asking me in.

What a gorgeous place, you lucky person. I am incredibly lucky.

Very privileged and honoured to be captain

of Britannia Royal Naval College, that's for sure.

I couldn't help but notice, as I walked in, this picture

of you and the Queen...

and neither of you are looking very happy.

There's a really good reason for that. It was bitterly cold,

we were in Tallinn in Estonia, and it was just sub zero.

I always say the Queen and I have something in common,

which is that, when our faces are in repose,

we're just thinking about something, might be quite joyful,

we look glum and people come up and say, "Oh, cheer up, dear."

No, I was perfectly happy, actually.

I think I just look grumpy because I was cold.

Or you were just grumpy. Did you find her easy to talk to?

Yeah. I was in command of HMS Liverpool,

the finest Type 42 Destroyer, and there was a remarkable moment

when she walked up onto my gangway.

And as she was walking up, I am very rarely lost for words

and, in fact, count myself

unflappable, and I had a nano-second where I was completely paralysed,

as this amazing icon walked over my gangway.

I knew exactly what I was going to say, I just couldn't say it.

You still couldn't say it? She was fantastic.

She said, "Good morning, Captain, how are you?"

Shook my hand and put me completely at ease.

Clearly, she is well practised at this.

She was fabulous with my ship's company, my sailors and indeed

my beautiful wife, Lisa, was there and she met her.

And she was so attuned to the trials and tribulations

of being a naval officer's wife - a lot of time looking...

and she talked to Lisa about it. Did she?

What did she say? What did she say?

You can't just leave that hanging.

She said, "Wow, it's always hard to be the wife of a naval officer

"because you go away for so long."

That year I had been away for ten and a half months at sea,

with two little boys, and she gets all of that,

which makes her... Well, she is just the most remarkable sovereign.

From commanding officers to young cadets,

the Queen has made a lasting impression.

Lieutenant Darren Roach met her when he was awarded star cadet

back in 2008 and he hasn't forgotten her wise words.

She made a speech in front of the attendees,

down on the parade ground here.

She started initially by talking about her connection with

the college, which made it seem quite personal.

One of her closing lines was, "Always remember who you are

"and always be loyal to yourself",

and that has always stuck with me throughout.

That was really quite special.

You were down there and the Queen came out,

so you had to salute her, I suppose, did you?

I did, yeah. I had to march on to the parade ground.

She was in position already, so, as I approached her,

I had to stand to attention in front of her and then salute the Queen.

Yeah, slightly different in the Navy.

We actually salute with our fingers down.

With the other services, they have their hand up.

We salute this way. Back in the days where sailors would work with

rope and tar, and had dirty hands, it was seen as inappropriate to

salute an officer with a dirty palm,

so the tradition is that we have our palms facing down.

Go on, give us one. Is it always your right hand?

Always the right hand, always with a cap on,

so I'll show you how we do it.

Stand to attention in front of her, salute her, she then nodded back

and then cut the salute.

I feel like the Queen. I do, I do! That's fantastic!

Do you know? It was really rather special to see where that

little princess met the man she was going to marry.

It's obvious she still feels very connected to the college,

and the cadets find her inspirational whenever she comes here,

and who wouldn't want to come here?

It's so beautiful. Maybe that's why she keeps coming back

to this part of the country.

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Sometimes, when I was royal correspondent,

it was the quirky stories that were the most fun to do, I remember.

And after all the turmoil of the Diana years, the divorces,

the fire at the castle, there was a little bit of light relief

when the Queen did something she'd never ever done before.

She went to the pub.

It was 1998 and no-one was more surprised

than the Cheffers family,

owners of this rather historic inn, here in Topsham, Devon.

Landlady Caroline showed the Queen around that day.

The room was actually a malt house and there would've been another

floor here at that time.

This was...

And 18 years later, she's still every bit the consummate host.

Hello, you must be Caroline. Hi, Jennie, welcome to The Bridge.

Well, it's quite some place, I must say, and also very nice and warm.

Tell me, how long have your family had this business?

Well, my great grandfather came here in 1897, so, with my grandchildren

now, they are the sixth generation of our family in the inn.

How did you hear that the Queen was coming to visit?

Well, it was really extraordinary because my dear dad

took the phone call from the Lord Lieutenant's office in Devon.

And I said, "Don't worry, Dad, it's just someone playing a prank."

And lo and behold, three weeks later, she duly arrived.

Of course, she had never been in a pub before, had she?

No, this was her first official visit.

Whether she had been in a pub or not is another matter.

That is a very good point, Caroline.

Sometimes, when she was younger, she did skip out of the palace

in disguise - once, at least, we know about.

And she was an army girl. Indeed, indeed.

It's her first official visit. What did you think her?

I thought she was absolutely delightful. Was she easy to chat to?

Yes, she was, yes. And, as she walked through here,

she actually said, "It must be very difficult to remain

"unchanged in these changing times".

And I actually thought,

"I think probably both you and I know that, ma'am."

I think, rather like her mother, essentially in her heart,

she's a traditionalist.

I mean, how hard she has worked for this country.

It's, you know, her world has been one of duty, I suppose,

but hopefully she has enjoyed it.

From the smile on her face, she enjoyed her visit

and she was given a carry out - a crate of beer for Philip -

although she missed out on her favourite tipple, Dubonnet and gin.

I gather a few of you were here on that big day itself.

Well, I was lucky. I was the local police officer in Topsham,

so I was stood outside on crowd control,

and trying to keep people back and keep people happy and safe.

How did the media behave?

Badly! As one would expect, they're keen for the best shot.

I know. I was there. It was very tough times for the monarchy then

and there was a thought that this was really a bit of a PR stunt

to make her seem, I don't know, more in touch with people.

Did you go along with that?

No, I think there was a genuine reason for her picking Topsham

and I thought it was the history of the pub.

It was very nice for her to meet the people

and they responded well to seeing her.

It was particularly memorable for Caroline's daughter, Rhiannon,

who was 17 at the time.

It was a really exciting day and it's not every day that the Queen

asks to come to your home, ultimately,

and I remember feeling very special because the Queen

was coming to my home at that age.

I've been waiting years for her to come to my house,

just ring up and say, "Jen, can I come round?"

Does not happen, I'll tell you.

So are you going to be doing something special

here for the birthday, the big one?

We're going to have a garden party in the car park

and I think we might even go as far as having posh frocks and hats.

Whoo! I would expect nothing less.

ALL: Happy 90th birthday, ma'am.

Following the Queen around the world, it certainly taught me

one thing about her and that's how hard she works.

It's incredible, actually.

She kept me pretty busy, I have to say, to be honest.

It was quite hard juggling my job with being a mum.

If I ever felt sorry for myself, I thought, "Do you know what?

"She's been a working mother since she was 25."

Now, as she turns 90, she is still working hard.

In fact, she carries out way over

400 official visits every single year.

It's pretty amazing.

Someone else who has packed a lot into his 90 years

is Reverend Amos Creswell.

Let me blow my nose. I don't want to be sniffling.

Amos was born on the same day as the Queen and has a lovely tale to

tell about the time he went to Buckingham Palace for a joint

80th birthday party with her.

We had a card in the post, and my wife saw the invitation

and immediately went and bought a new dress, so I knew that she was

the one that I was going to have to take.

We got to the palace. They met us and I said,

"Where will I be sitting?" "Oh," he said,

"You'll be sitting next to the Queen."

And I looked at him, I said, "You what?!"

After getting over his shock, Amos then had to deliver a speech.

Luckily, 60 years as a Methodist minister has fine tuned

his oratory skills.

When I finished, something happened which I shall never forget.

Her Majesty stood up and looked at me,

bowed her head towards me and smiled,

and said, "Thank you for a lovely speech."

To think that the Queen of England said that to me,

who comes from a working class family, whose father was out of work

on the day he was born...

I mean, we talked about all sorts of things.

We talked about families, grandchildren and I said,

"You know, Your Majesty, nowadays, we find it difficult to get people

"to join societies."

She looked at me and said,

"You know, when we were young, we were taught the meaning of

"commitment and nowadays they don't take that so seriously as we did."

She said, "That, I think, is at the bottom of it."

And then I paused and I thought, "That is at the top of why

"she stands out as such a great leader of the country -

"she is committed."

Totally committed.

And she will serve us till the end of her energies.

My body's beginning to fail.

I've lost my sight since I saw her...ten years ago.

My limbs are creaking.

She seems to do very well and thank God for that.

She is the tops as far as I'm concerned.

I would like to wish you a happy birthday, Your Majesty,

and God bless you.

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You'll find plenty of people doing their bit for society,

as the reverend put it, at a vibrant community centre, here in Bristol.

The Park, as it's known locally, is a former school

that's now a lively community hub.

Back in 2005, it found itself on the royal radar.

Then we came in through the door there.

When team member Joy Pollard first heard she was to expect a

special visitor, her reaction was priceless.

I won't tell you what I said because it's not nice.

Oh, tell me what you said. You cannot leave it there.

What did you say? I said, "Don't be so ridiculous."

There was no way the queen was coming to come here.

And then it was all go then, people getting really, really excited.

We had a visit from Bristol City Council, who wanted to come

and paint everything, and I sent them away and said, "No.

"She is coming to see what we are." Good for you!

People always do that.

We did paint a toilet that we thought she might use,

but, apart from that, what she saw was what we were.

What sort of things go on here? We have an education programme.

We do construction. We do level two childcare.

We do health and social care.

It's all to do with skills and vocational...

They come away with proper qualifications that can take

them into uni...if they want to go that way.

On the day of the visit, Joy was on hand to greet the Queen.

Waiting inside was nervous construction trainee Steph Monks,

who was quite literally bricking it.

When Joy told you the Queen was going to come visit,

and she might talk to you, what did you think?

I told her I don't believe her.

I said, "Oh, don't be silly."

She was like, "No, she is, she wants to see you.

Steph had dropped out of school early and was at the centre training

to be a bricklayer.

Were you the only brickie around? Female, I mean.

Yeah, I was the only girl on the course.

That's why, when she come in, she was happy to come and talk to me.

That's something to look back on as an adult.

"Oh, yeah, I've met her." But no-one believes me!

Did she seem quite natural with you? Did it change your image of her?

Yeah. You look at her as this royal person

but when she come in, she was quite down to earth.

She asked me about my wall, why I'm doing the course.

Yeah, I spoke to her. Something I can say to my grandkids.

They will be dead impressed.

And they'll be impressed that Steph,

inspired by the Queen's visit, went on to teach at the centre.

What did it all mean, in the end, the Queen coming here?

Did it boost the centre in any way?

I think it boosted morale.

A lot of the young people that were here never believed she was going

to come, even after we told them.

I that gave them the sense that, if we said, here at The Park,

something was going to happen for them, then it was going to happen.

Just goes to show what brilliant foundations can be laid with

a royal seal of approval.

If there's one thing this whole journey has reinforced for me,

it's how at home the Queen is with people from all walks of life.

But here in the South West, she is never far from a salute,

and the men and women who serve her and their country.

Well, I'm getting towards the end of my journey round my home turf now,

but there's just one more group of people I'd like to meet.

Now, they know exactly what it's like to fear

for their loved one's lives

because, like the Queen, they too

have a deep connection with the Armed Forces.

This part of the world, Wiltshire, is home to 20%

of our Armed Forces and the UK's largest

military training area, Salisbury Plain.

Over 12,000 soldiers are based here, training hard before heading off to

conflicts around the world.

They leave behind wives and girlfriends,

who can only wait and worry...

but some of them have found a rather brilliant distraction.

# There are times I need somewhere that I belong... #

This choir is one of over 80 military wives choirs that

have sprung up over the country in the past five years.

# Safe, secure and feels like home

# Heard a voice... #

Heidi Cox joined after struggling with the isolation

of being a military wife.

What sort of things have you had to face alone?

Childbirth. Really? That was a big one on my list.

My husband was in Kosovo and my baby came at 34 weeks.

I had a friend who visited me after two years in Australia.

She came for pizza and ended up staying four days,

and helping me deliver a baby, which was amazing.

Andy managed to get back the day after and we had one week together,

and then he had to go back away on operations

and I was left holding a baby.

And I'd never held a baby before,

before I gave birth, so that was shocking.

When baby number two came along,

Heidi felt in desperate need of support.

Andy told me he was going off on tour to Afghanistan,

and it was a couple of weeks beforehand,

and we had quite a few nights

where I was just going, "How am I going to survive with two children?

"You're going away again, urgh, this is just a nightmare."

And so I thought, "I'm going to just join the choir

"and see what happens."

It turned a corner for me and, ever since then,

it has been a network that I can rely on.

It doesn't matter where I get posted.

# Together we belong together we are strong

# Together we are stronger we can overcome... #

The Military Wives choirs made headlines with Gareth Malone's

hit series in 2011.

# And now nothing can divide us we are stronger together... #

But very few know it was the idea of one woman - Nicky Clarke.

What's the longest your husband was away for?

He was away for seven months in Afghanistan,

with a couple of weeks of R in the middle of that.

Is that what made you start the choir?

Absolutely, 100%. I enjoy singing and I'd sang in a choir locally.

There seemed to be lots of barriers to us

getting to know each other, so rank, service, where you live,

whether you have children or not, and all these things that

divided us. And I thought, actually, a choir could bring us all

together and it didn't matter who you were, or what your husband did,

or where you came from, we could all just be part of a choir together.

And there was no stopping them.

# Sing it louder, sing it clearer knowing everyone will hear you... #

In 2012, Nicky and the wives got the golden ticket to

sing at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations...

with the added bonus of performing alongside Take That's Gary Barlow.

Oh, I was there...and you were there. I was there. I saw you!

Right on the back row.

It was the most incredible experience for all of us.

It was a great evening, I must say. It was. It really was.

# Sing it louder, sing it clearer knowing everyone will hear you... #

It became the biggest selling record of the year,

bagging a number one for Gary and the wives.

And, as if that's not enough...

And, of course, you've been honoured, haven't you?

So you must have met the Queen there.

You have an MBE, is that right?

I have. It was, again, an incredible privilege and, as I have always

maintained, as much as I felt amazingly honoured myself,

I truly felt that I was collecting that for all military wives.

Her Majesty was a military wife, a military mother,

a military grandmother

and I felt it was an incredibly special thing for all of us.

There's one final song still left to sing.

Take it away, ladies.

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday Your Majesty

# Happy birthday to you. #

LAUGHTER

MUSIC PLAYS

You know, all those years as royal correspondent can leave you

a wee bit cynical.

But after making this programme, meeting all those people,

it's obvious the day they met the Queen is a day that's going to live

for ever in their memory.

Quite simply, she's been around for most of us,

for all of our lives, and she's still as popular as ever.

It really is some achievement.