"She was phenomenal": Mansfield mum shares memories of meeting Queen Elizabeth II

Maria Bough, nee Gibson, 57, met Her Royal Majesty twice when she visited Mansfield – once in 1977 when she opened the library and again in the 1990s at the opening of the Elizabethan building at the Queen Elizabeth’s Academy.

But the biggest honour of all came when Maria was officially invited to Buckingham Palace back in October 2003 to mark the contribution of Pioneers to the life of the nation.

Maria, who was 38 at the time, was chosen by the Chad to represent the Mansfield community at the special event.

She said: “I’ve always been a bit of a community activist and I was quite regularly in the Chad at that time doing one thing or another, so I was chosen.

“The event was a gathering of people, like a garden party but indoors. Loads of important people and celebrities were there including Cliff Richard and Trevor McDonald.”

Before being allowed to enter the palace, Maria underwent briefings to learn the rules and etiquette that must be followed.

“There were lots of rules,” she said.

“We were told not to approach the Queen, and instead to wait for her to approach you.

“I remember Prince Edward came up to us during the evening and I got a bit flabbergasted and wasn’t sure what to say to him.

“I knew everything about meeting the Queen but we were never told how to deal with the other royals. In the end, he just seemed so relaxed and easy-going. He acted like he was our new best mate.

“All of the royals were lovely – and they did a cracking gin and tonic as well, I must say.”

Maria remembers seeing the Queen entering the room for the first time.

She added: “The queen herself was phenomenal – she was quite a tiny person.

“You see her on telly and you can’t judge how tall she is but when she came into the room it was amazing how small she was. I’m quite short and she was even shorter than me.

“It really was such a privilege and a humbling experience.

“I’m a Mansfield girl from a working class background and to have been in the presence of the Queen three times is something that will stay with me forever. I can’t imagine there’s many people who can say that.”

Maria’s memories are made even more precious now, as the news of Her Majesty’s death continues to flood the nation with grief.

“When I saw the Queen had passed away, I couldn’t help but shed a tear,” she said.

“I can’t imagine there were many dry eyes that day. Charles’ speech was so emotional as well – you could see the pain in his eyes.”

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is set to be held at Westminster Abbey on Monday (September 19).

The coffin of Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband of 73 years who died in April last year, is expected to be moved from the royal vault at Windsor to be buried alongside his wife.

Maria and her family have paid their respects to the Queen in their own special ways this week.

She said: “We’ve taken some flowers down to the soldier memorial in Jacksdale and we attended a Royal British Legion ball at the weekend in her memory. It was such an emotional night.

“The Queen dedicated her whole life to us – she never had a day off in 70 years. She couldn’t just decide to quit and work down the local chippy if she wanted to, she had to continue to go to work everyday.

“And after seven decades of hard service, she deserves all of our utmost respect.”