The Lisburn Mayor who accepted city status from the Queen has recalled his five meetings with the monarch and said he has some advice for the new King if he wants to hear it.
Alderman Jim Dillon MBE JP (UUP) had a number of encounters with the Queen during visits to the city of Lisburn through the decades.
He said: “I have met a lot of people in my time, but obviously the Queen was the most prestigious.
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“Most people would be nervous of meeting the Queen and I was no exception, but she had a way of just saying a few words that put you right at ease.
“She was a lady in every sense of the word.
“I had met her five times with the first time at the Chelsea Flower Show.
“I was also privileged to have spent two and a half hours in her company at the opening of the Lagan Valley Island civic centre in 2001, which was absolutely fantastic.
“ The Queen must have asked about a hundred questions and a hundred answers were given.
“HRH the Duke of Edinburgh was there also and he was a fantastic character.
“When I met the Queen at Hillsborough Castle for the presentation of the scroll for city status of Lisburn I had been briefed before hand.
“I was told that if the Queen did not offer a handshake before the scroll, which weighed a considerable amount, was passed over, then no hand shake would be offered.
“Well, the Queen came in and handed over the scroll and then she offered the handshake, it was quite the scene as I had to attempt to hold the heavy scroll in one hand and shake the Queen’s hand with the other.
“The Queen said to me, ‘I seem to have put you in jeopardy’.”
The new King, Charles III, will arrive at his Northern Ireland residence of Royal Hillsborough tomorrow (Tuesday September 13) where a guard of honour made up of members of Lisburn and Casltereagh City Council will be present.
It was more than 20 years ago, that Lisburn received the city status from Her Majesty.
The memory of that occasion is now a permanent fixture on the walls of Buckingham Palace.
The former Mayor recalled: “At the time I had been asked to go to the arts centre to pick one of 12 paintings to present to the Queen.
“I looked at them and said , certainly not, I wouldn’t insult her with any of these.
“So, I quickly made the decision to locate an artist to do an oil painting of Hillsborough Castle, the Queen’s royal residence in Northern Ireland.
“I was told by the Queen’s secretary that she does not often take the offers of paintings home and that it would likely end up hanging in the Lisburn civic centre.
“Well some time later, I received a call from the secretary who told me the Queen liked the painting so much that she would like it sent over to hang up at Buckingham Palace, it was truly a great honour.”
The event at Hillsborough Castle this week will see the first visit of the new King to Northern Ireland where Alderman Dillon will have the opportunity to welcome the new monarch.
He said: “To the King, I will of course offer my condolences on the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
“To say, thank God she had a long life of service for 70 years to reign over us and living for 96 years in this world, that is some achievement.
“If I were to offer any advice, I would say to him to follow in the footsteps of the Queen, who was impeccable in every way and I have no doubt that he will.”
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