God Save 'er ..

Today's the day the Queen clocks on for overtime. She's now the longest serving UK monarch ever, ever, ever...

I was lucky enough to be chosen to be the 'Official Photographer' for a visit by the Queen once. She was opening a 'Festival of Food and Farming' in London's Hyde Park in, I think, 1994, and I got the PR 'gig' to go down and shoot it. I was the only photographer allowed into the sponsor's marquee to photograph her as she toured around the stands. Those, of course, were the dim, dark days of film - no looking at the camera back to check your shots in those days - but that was absolutely normal and although I was nervous I didn't think anything of it. I was a professional photographer and I knew what to do to make sure the shots were good ones..

That's more than can be said for the first time I photographed Her Maj! Then I was a spotty sixteen year old who sneaked out of work to grab this shot of her as she sped down the M63 in Eccles on her way to some posh party or something during her 1977 Silver Jubilee Year. This picture was probably taken on my old Zenith EM camera and all I can say is I was damned lucky that bloody lamp-post is where it is or I'd have failed miserably in my efforts!..

Keep on truckin', Liz ...