A Tribute to the Queen and our wonderful Owls
There must be so many people at this poignant moment remembering their own brief moments when they had the opportunity to actually meet and greet the Queen.
Our time was some years ago and it didn’t begin well.
We had been invited, with many other charities, to Venue Cymru here in Llandudno to meet the Queen and Price Philip on one of their many trips around Wales. We had also been asked to bring some of our owls for them to meet…
Everyone was lined up, all of us had been told that we would get about 3 minutes or so to talk to their Majesties and were instructed on “protocol” etc. So exciting and we felt so privileged. It really was a magical moment until the entourage entered (we were at the entrance) and our owls decided they didn’t appreciate any of this camera and action business. The owls we took to Venue Cymru were bombproof but even as human beings we were taken aback when everyone swept in with cameras flashing (Andrew Marr was following the Queen that year for a BBC programme so he was there too with his crew) and the sudden noise turned my owls into feathered monsters…….one, Wallace our Barn Owl, right in front of Her Majesty the Queen. And Her Majesty hardly flinched, a flapping owl was most certainly not going to bother this wonderful countrywoman.
The protocol was immediately out of the window… and I still hadn’t figured out how to curtsey whilst having an owl on my glove, so I didn’t.
I was honoured to have quite a long conversation with the Queen. Difficult to remember now but well over 10 minutes because she was so engaged. I of course was telling her about the Trust and she was telling me about the owls she had seen on various occasions.
Lots of people were listening so I don’t think I am giving away a secret here. She mentioned that she had heard Long Eared Owls at Balmoral but had never seen one. As luck would have it we had brought Huw, our own Long Eared Owl, with us. We introduced him and Her Majesty saw for the first time the owl that she had been hearing for so long, fully feathered and now very well behaved.
She was an extraordinary woman and because of her, a moment I will never forget.
Thank you, Ma’am.
