Queen Elizabeth II only visited Islington once during Charles Goodson-Wickes’ decade as deputy lieutenant – but it was a memorable visit.
Her royal highness came to Farringdon station ahead of its redevelopment to become part of Crossrail, or the Elizabeth Line as it will appropriately be known.
Dr Goodson-Wickes said the 2011 encounter made for one of his “more amusing” outings, but it was Prince Philip who drew a laugh.
“On the recce with the chief executive of Crossrail,” said Dr Goodson Wickes. “I said, ‘You’re going to have to be on your toes because the Duke is very technically minded and you must have all the facts’.
“The chief executive went very pale. But when it came to the event, when the Duke arrived, he said to the chief exec, ‘Do you have any pigeons down here?’ The chief said, ‘No, sir, why do you ask?’ and the Duke said, ‘I was at Baker Street the other day when some pigeons got on and got off at the next station’. It was a classic Duke of Edinburgh line.”
Dr Goodson-Wickes, who served as the Queen’s eyes and ears" from 2010 to 2019, had 25 royal visits and received every working member of the royal family in that time.
He has fond memories of Anne, the princess royal, who attended a guard of honour in St John Ambulance uniform and admitted to being embarrassed about forgetting how to salute wearing the outfit.
“I told her I couldn’t help on that,” Dr Goodson-Wickes laughed.
The former deputy lieutenant thinks Islington has been such a popular location for royal visits because of the “important institutions within it”, including St John priory, The Charterhouse, Moorfields and Arsenal.
“There are so many charities and voluntary organisations that are attractive to them and for members of the working royal family are patrons or presidents of them.
“Islington has been very lucky in attracting these visits on a much greater instance than any other borough in London.”
As for the Queen’s legacy, Dr Goodson-Wickes added: “It has been a lifetime of unqualified, admirable service.
"We are extraordinarily lucky to have a sovereign who has devoted her life in this way and I have been a great admirer of her personally, and all her work. She has an amazing sense of duty that I am sure she will continue in any way she can.”
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