The Queen Mother visited a construction site not far from her Balmoral holiday estate last Thursday, and paused to chat with local workers. And while the 101-year-old royal was eager to tour the area, inclement weather and muddy trails unfortunately curtailed her walkabout.
“Perhaps today one should have worn one’s gumboots,” the Queen Mum told labourer Bob Clark. “I won’t walk too far though – in this mud I may become stuck.”
Yet despite the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature, the Queen Mother managed a brief tour of the property – the future site of a £650,000 holiday cottage for the disabled.
Reverend Bob Sloane, one of the organisers of the cottage appeal, accompanied the nation’s favourite grandmother around the facility. The Queen Mum was so taken with the site, she even suggested a possible return next summer when the project is complete. “This is going to be very beautiful,” she said. “Perhaps if you have room, I could come and stay here myself. It is so peaceful.”
The feeling was apparently mutual. “Having the Queen Mother here was a real pleasure,” said project secretary Christine Sloane.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
