Of Course You Can Meet The Queen!

OF COURSE YOU CAN MEET THE QUEEN!

Ever since the Duke of Gloucester visited my school, I’ve been dreaming of meeting the Queen of England.
One day, not so long after the Duke’s visit, I told a friend.
‘You can’t meet the Queen!’ she said.
When I got home, I sat down next to Daddy.
‘Daddy?’ I said.
‘Yes, darling girl?’ he replied.
‘Well, I was wondering whether I might be able to meet the Queen.’
He wasn’t ready for that, and spilt a bit of tea over his shirt.
‘Of course you can meet the Queen!’ he said. ‘I’ll write Her Majesty a letter and ask very nicely.’
‘Really? Would you?’ I said, shaking with excitement.
Daddy sent the letter and, after a few weeks, we received a reply from Buckingham Palace.
‘It’s not the best news we’ve ever had, but at least we tried,’ Daddy said.
I didn’t know what to say, so I just huffed and wandered off.
Next day, Daddy had what he calls a ‘brainwave’.
‘How about we go to Buckingham Palace and wait at the gates,’ he said. ‘We’ll go every Saturday and Sunday from sunrise to sunset. The Queen is sure to meet you after a while.’
I jumped into his arms. ‘When do we start?’ I asked.
‘It’s Saturday tomorrow,’ he said, with a wink.
Mummy made some sandwiches and drinks for us and we set off in the half-light.
From the top-deck of the bus, I watched in amazement as the sun began to rise above the buildings of London.
When we arrived, I couldn’t believe how big and beautiful the palace was.
Daddy saw a nice area in front of the gates, so we set out a blanket and waited.
The guard gave us a funny look after a while, but we weren’t bothered. We would wait, and that was that.
We played a few games and had some lunch, then I did some drawing while Daddy read a book.
As the sun was setting, he started packing up our things.
‘Do you think the Queen knows that we’re here?’ I asked.
Daddy held up the ‘brainwave’ finger, and approached the guard.
‘Would you kindly inform Her Majesty that my daughter and I will wait here every weekend until such a time that Her Majesty wishes to see us?’
I saw the guard nod ever so slightly.
Daddy came back. ‘Affirmative,’ he said.
On Sunday, Daddy woke me up, but I was dreaming about fairies.
‘Do you want to meet the Queen?’ he whispered, and my eyes popped open.
Again, we set up our little place in front of the gates next to the guard.
Daddy had brought some great felt-tip pens. He gave me a photograph of the Queen and asked if I would draw a special picture of the great lady.
By lunchtime, the guard that Daddy had spoken to came on duty. He gave me a nice smile when I looked up at him.
By the time the sun had set, I felt very tired. We’d played I-spy so much that there was nothing left to guess.
‘Darling?’ said Daddy. ‘Would you ask the guard if he might take your picture and pass it on to the Queen?’
I did so, and the guard took the piece of paper and placed it into a pocket very quickly. He looked down and smiled at me.
Once we’d packed up our things, we thanked the guard and caught the bus home.
At school, I told my friends what I’d been doing over the weekend.
‘The Queen doesn’t have time to see you!’ they said. ‘Your Dad must be mad!’
I got home and told Daddy.
‘If you don’t have a dream, how can you make a dream come true?’ he said, and it made perfect sense.
On Saturday morning, we arrived at Buckingham Palace and set out our place.
Mummy came to visit us with my little sister at lunchtime and we ate some lovely food together.
In the afternoon, Mummy took my sister into St James’ Park to look at the birds and play.
It was a sunny day and I so wanted to join them, but I knew I had to stay with Daddy.
Just as the sun was setting, Mummy and my sister came back and we all caught the bus home.
On Sunday morning, we set up as usual outside the palace but I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I could have been doing on a normal Sunday.
The day passed very slowly. When the sun finally set, we packed up and went home on the bus.
‘Don’t be sad, darling,’ said Daddy. ‘Next weekend will be different.’
So, on Saturday morning, we arrived at the palace to set up our little place by the gates.
Daddy had brought a big bag of colourful building blocks. By lunchtime, we’d made a beautiful castle.
In the afternoon, a lot of people arrived with banners. They were all shouting about something.
I asked Daddy what the fuss was about.
‘These people are all fighting for something they believe in, and they’ve come to tell the Queen,’ he said.
‘Can the Queen help them?’ I asked.
‘Of course, darling,’ he replied. ‘That’s why they’re here, like us, only for a different reason.’
After a while, the police came to calm things down.
An angry man with a red face walked past and knocked down my castle.
‘That’s what I think of the Queen!’ he shouted, stomping off.
‘Oh, well,’ said Daddy as we gathered up the blocks. ‘At least it’s been an eventful day.’
The sun set soon after, so we packed away our things and caught the bus home.
That night, I had a wonderful dream about the Queen. I couldn’t remember much about it, but, on Sunday morning, I was ready before Daddy.
‘I was there, with the Queen in my dream!’ I told him.
‘It’s all for a reason, darling,’ he said.
As usual, we placed our blanket at our spot by the gates.
In the morning, Daddy read some lovely stories about a prince and his princess.
Mummy came with my little sister at lunchtime and we played together, but then it started to rain.
‘She’ll catch a cold,’ said Mummy to Daddy as they left to go home.
‘It won’t rain for long,’ he replied. ‘Besides, fortune favours the brave.’
It poured down all afternoon.
We had our waterproofs so we just stood there by the gates looking like soggy penguins.
What with all the clouds, we couldn’t tell if the sun had set.
Then the streetlights came on.
‘Would you like to go now, darling?’ asked Daddy.
‘Let’s just wait a little longer,’ I said.
I don’t know what made me say that, but it just came out.
Moments later, I noticed a silhouette appear in one of the windows of the palace.
The silhouette disappeared and my heart sank.
The sky was pitch black and the rain was heavy.
In the distance, I noticed that the guard we’d befriended was marching towards us, and my heart began to race with excitement.
But when he walked past us, I realised that he had only come to relieve the guard on duty.
The other guard left, and my hopes seemed to go with him.
But then, something magical happened.
Without turning to face us, the guard spoke out.
‘Please go through the gates and proceed to the main entrance of the palace,’ he said.
I jumped for joy!
While Daddy picked up our bags, I went over to the guard and looked up at him.
‘Thank you very much, sir,’ I said.
As we approached the huge doors of the palace, I felt excited and scared at the same time.
A man in a black suit met us and ushered us in.
‘Follow me, please,’ he said.
It was quite dark inside but I could just make out all the paintings on the walls.
We walked through the great hall and into another enormous room, then we were shown up some stairs and the rooms we walked through seemed to get smaller and smaller.
Suddenly, we stopped at a door.
Our guide knocked three times and we could hear a voice from inside.
‘Come in,’ the voice said.
I shook with excitement as we entered.
There was a figure over by the window.
‘Your Majesty,’ said the usher, and the Queen turned to face us.
‘Thank you,’ said the Queen, and he left.
The Queen welcomed us in and held out a hand for us to sit at a table with three sets of cutlery.
Daddy stood behind me as I curtseyed.
‘Would you like to join me for supper?’ said the Queen. ‘You must be starving.’
‘Oh yes, please, Your Majesty,’ I said.
We all sat down.
A man in a white suit entered with a silver trolley and put our plates on the table.
‘Sausages with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy,’ announced the man before leaving.
‘Yippee!’ I said. ‘My favourite.’
The Queen smiled at me just as my grandmother does.
‘I received the lovely picture you gave to the guard,’ said the Queen, pointing to the mantelpiece. And there it was.
My heart was filled with joy and I thanked Her Majesty for putting it there.
‘Philip loves it,’ said the Queen.
We all ate our food and it tasted delicious.
After supper, the Queen gave me a silver necklace and kissed me on the cheek.
‘That’s for all your trouble,’ said the Queen.
‘Oh, it was no trouble at all, Your Majesty,’ I replied, holding back tears.
The usher arrived to take us downstairs, so we said goodbye and thanked the Queen for inviting us.
Daddy picked up our things that he’d left by the huge door and we walked back to the gates.
We took one last look at the palace and there was the Queen, waving goodbye from the window.
We waved back.
At the gates, I approached the guard and blew a kiss to him.
He smiled down at me for a moment.
‘Thank you again, sir,’ I said. ‘I’ll never forget this day for as long as I live.’
When we got home, Mummy just couldn’t believe it, but when I showed her the silver necklace, she held me and kissed me.
‘Well done, darling,’ she said with a little tear in her eye. ‘Your dream came true!’
The next day, I went to school and told my friends, but no one believed me.
‘Don’t fib,’ they all said. ‘The Queen doesn’t eat sausages.’
‘Oh yes, Her Majesty does,’ I said.