A WHITCHURCH woman has spoken of her sadness at the passing of the Queen having seen her as a school girl on her birthday while dressed in her wellies.

Ruth Neill, 83, was among the cheering crowd as a school girl when she joined her fellow pupils to see the then Princess Elizabeth when she was on a royal visit to the Tavistock area.

Ruth was celebrating her eighth birthday on her doubly special day when Whitchurch Primary School was taken to see the future Queen as she went on a walk-about with civic leaders.

They lined up along the street, Ruth with her friend, and joined other people who were handing out flowers.

Ruth, a former ledger clerk for Tavistock Model Laundry, said: ‘I was very excited on the day, not necessarily because the princess was comng, but because it was my birthday. I did see her close up and was at the front of the crowd just a short distance away.

‘I was all swept up with what seemed to everyone else that it was a big occasion with lots of people all organising us. But the most important thing to me, as far as I was concerned, was that the visit was all part of my birthday and I even thought she was coming to see me and other people were just joining in and I was thrilled.

‘She didn’t speak to me as far as I can remember and I don’t have any other memory of her, apart from her obviously being very important.’

Ruth, who married aged 29 and has three children, worked occasionally as a bar maid later in life. She said her parents did not even seem to take the event too seriously and her dad, a clerk for the railways, went to work as normal.

‘I was the ninth youngest of ten children, so my mum and dad had a lot more important things to think about than a royal visit.

‘I wasn’t even dressed up in anything special for the visit - I was wearing my wellies, which I did a lot because they were the most comfortable thing to wear. We didn’t have school then, but some of the other girls were a bit smarter and wore white ankle socks.’

Ruth added: ‘I was very sad when the Queen died and it’s nice to think I saw her close up, even if it was such a long time ago. Though I did see her at a distance at the Royal Cornwall Show.

‘The Queen was a wonderful person, she was fantastic as our Queen. I don’t think she could have done the job any better.