THE QUEEN WAS ALL UP IN MY FACE.
GUYS I MET THE QUEEN
I AM NOT EVEN JOKING
Sophie and I met up at Queen's Park just before ten in the morning to line up along her walkabout route in the sweltering heat (I am not kidding, 35 celsius, feeling like 45 with the humidex.) I had water, ice, more water, and a camera.
For most of the morning nothing exciting happened except random army people and marching bands and whatnot. We chatted with the lovely folk around us and exchanged great stories and laughter and shared water and it was all very lovely. One handsome RCMP officer was charged with guarding our area of the fence and he had a wonderful sense of humour and made jokes about how he is a professional when it comes to guarding fences and hopes one day to be promoted to Senior Fence Watcher. "My father was a fence watcher before me," he joked, "and his father before him, and so forth. They start you off with wooden fences, then you work your way up to stone fences, and one day you get a landmark!" "I bet you must have been so disappointed when the Berlin Wall came down," I suggested, and we all laughed.
AND THEN THE QUEEN CAME.
The police wouldn't really tell anyone which way she would come from, but we gathered that she was entering the legislative buildings from the opposite end of where we were, and was likely coming out on our side. The section of grass across from us was fenced off, but there were people lined up along a path on the other side. When she arrived a marching band started up and I guess there was a lot of pageantry but we couldn't see any of it. Then a little while later we heard Harper's voice wafting over the air from some hidden loudspeakers, and then silence for a while, and then all of a sudden everyone right in front of the building (we were across the lawn ont he east side, facing it ) started cheering, and then all of a sudden there was a little pink hat walking slowly by along the path on the other side of the circle from us. She walked out onto University avenue and a whole bunch of photographers and police officers crowded onto our part of the path, blocking it, and we though that was all we were going to see of her. Then suddenly the crowd on the path parted and started moving quickly backwards, and there she was, in a pink hat and a pink floral dress, bobbing her way slowly towards us with Michaëlle Jean on her right, and Prince Phillip walking slightly behind, just to her left. She walked along the fence slowly, smiling at people and occasionally saying something (the fences were set up around the circuit in such a way that we could only line up on one side.) I have a lovely photo of her on the path, maybe seven or eight feet away from me, walking towards us.
THEN as she was approaching our section of the fence, she caught my eye and looked at Sophie and I and walked RIGHT OVER TO US. I was just shaking with glee. She asked if "you girls are from Toronto?" and I barely squeaked out a "yes!" And she said something else that I couldn't quite hear, but she had the lovliest smile on her face the whole time. Then Sophie said, "when I was four your Silver Jubilee was on the television and the reporter said, 'the Queen has been on the throne for twenty-five years,' and I turned to my dad and said, 'she must be stiff!'" The Queen gave a polite "oh!" and smiled, and then continued on her way, but Michaëlle Jean lol'd and said, "nice one!"
Sophie had been waiting her entire life for the opportunity to tell the Queen that story. I had just been waiting my whole life to meet her, and I did. WOW.
I have the most incredible photo of her smiling at Sophie. Incredible :)
I AM NOT EVEN JOKING
Sophie and I met up at Queen's Park just before ten in the morning to line up along her walkabout route in the sweltering heat (I am not kidding, 35 celsius, feeling like 45 with the humidex.) I had water, ice, more water, and a camera.
For most of the morning nothing exciting happened except random army people and marching bands and whatnot. We chatted with the lovely folk around us and exchanged great stories and laughter and shared water and it was all very lovely. One handsome RCMP officer was charged with guarding our area of the fence and he had a wonderful sense of humour and made jokes about how he is a professional when it comes to guarding fences and hopes one day to be promoted to Senior Fence Watcher. "My father was a fence watcher before me," he joked, "and his father before him, and so forth. They start you off with wooden fences, then you work your way up to stone fences, and one day you get a landmark!" "I bet you must have been so disappointed when the Berlin Wall came down," I suggested, and we all laughed.
AND THEN THE QUEEN CAME.
The police wouldn't really tell anyone which way she would come from, but we gathered that she was entering the legislative buildings from the opposite end of where we were, and was likely coming out on our side. The section of grass across from us was fenced off, but there were people lined up along a path on the other side. When she arrived a marching band started up and I guess there was a lot of pageantry but we couldn't see any of it. Then a little while later we heard Harper's voice wafting over the air from some hidden loudspeakers, and then silence for a while, and then all of a sudden everyone right in front of the building (we were across the lawn ont he east side, facing it ) started cheering, and then all of a sudden there was a little pink hat walking slowly by along the path on the other side of the circle from us. She walked out onto University avenue and a whole bunch of photographers and police officers crowded onto our part of the path, blocking it, and we though that was all we were going to see of her. Then suddenly the crowd on the path parted and started moving quickly backwards, and there she was, in a pink hat and a pink floral dress, bobbing her way slowly towards us with Michaëlle Jean on her right, and Prince Phillip walking slightly behind, just to her left. She walked along the fence slowly, smiling at people and occasionally saying something (the fences were set up around the circuit in such a way that we could only line up on one side.) I have a lovely photo of her on the path, maybe seven or eight feet away from me, walking towards us.
THEN as she was approaching our section of the fence, she caught my eye and looked at Sophie and I and walked RIGHT OVER TO US. I was just shaking with glee. She asked if "you girls are from Toronto?" and I barely squeaked out a "yes!" And she said something else that I couldn't quite hear, but she had the lovliest smile on her face the whole time. Then Sophie said, "when I was four your Silver Jubilee was on the television and the reporter said, 'the Queen has been on the throne for twenty-five years,' and I turned to my dad and said, 'she must be stiff!'" The Queen gave a polite "oh!" and smiled, and then continued on her way, but Michaëlle Jean lol'd and said, "nice one!"
Sophie had been waiting her entire life for the opportunity to tell the Queen that story. I had just been waiting my whole life to meet her, and I did. WOW.
I have the most incredible photo of her smiling at Sophie. Incredible :)