Encounters with Elizabeth

Meticulous preparation, perfected protocol, polished routines – all feature in a Platinum Jubilee portfolio, presented by the distinguished royal biographer and historian, Robert Lacey, of stories about the day her subjects met the Queen.

Some encounters with Queen Elizabeth are official, like the weekly prime-ministerial meetings or the regular audiences she holds with the Privy Council and her military chiefs-of-staff. Others are more ad-hoc, with camera-wielding crowds on royal walkabouts or visits overseas. But all are met with nerves: bouquets are dropped, coffee spilled, welcoming parties caught off-guard. Robert Lacey’s collection of tales from around the world features all of these, and the inside story of how the Queen has dealt with over-assertive premiers, talkative Americans and how Her Majesty proof-read an article about her clothes, and even corrected the journalist’s spelling.

A Jubilee collection of stories from the archive and new-minted tales of royal encounters from the Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward, former First Sea Lord, Admiral Alan West and others.

Producer: Simon Elmes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2022.

*** Born 21st April 1926, Queen Elizabeth II joins 4 Extra's 100 Club. She died on 8th September 2022, aged 96.