Having been in the Queens Lifeguards for 15 years, I have a few stories. I remember the Silver Jubilee, where we all got a coin. I was in the Military and received the Golden Jubilee Medal. I have also dinned with the Queen.

The biggest memory was during the fire at Windsor Castle. I was stationed at Windsor at the time, and as you can imagine, everyone was called in to service to help remove all the furniture, books, and artwork from the castle. This went on for several hours and many a priceless book or painting passed through my hands. As the evening went on and we moved further into the castle to the private chambers I found myself helping to empty a bedroom. I was the lucky guy to get a big and heavy rug to take. So, after struggling down the stairs and across the courtyard in the dark. I suddenly felt a weight on the end of the rug; this coursed me to swing round off balance. I was just about to launch into a rant at the person who caused me to almost fall over when my eyes focused and there was the Queen herself, stating “that’s the carpet from my bedroom”. Luckily, I managed to keep my mouth shut and just walked away cursing under my breath.