We were lucky to host James Patrick in the Millennium Hall for his talk The Queen and Me, a truly wonderful insight into the late Queen and a glimpse of Mr Patrick’s life as her equerry, when he was 25 years old.
Through some wonderful photos, personal notes, plus some simple but important themes picked out by Mr Patrick, he painted an intimate portrait of the late Queen for the audience.
From sharing Christmas with the royal family to sharing the Queen’s much-loved picnics in Scotland, we learnt about her love of animals, her dedication to her role, her love of photos, travel and boats as well as her values of kindness, loyalty and hard work.
The children were very keen to volunteer to be involved and a lucky pupil from Year 4 to Year 8 had the opportunity to get dressed in Mr Patrick’s uniforms and one pupil was knighted! Caitlin Gill, Sports Graduate Assistant, said: "The children were so engaged and in awe of this magnificent story of Mr Patrick's life at the Queen's side. The children were more focussed than ever, hanging off Mr Patrick's words."
Mr Patrick ended by encouraging everyone to be loyal and kind, just like the late Queen was, and to remember to write thank you notes!
