One of the ten “ordinary Australians” who received an exclusive invite from Buckingham Palace to the Queen’s funeral has described her shock at being included in such an event.
The last time Val Dempsey spoke with the Queen it had been via a Zoom call at the home of Australia’s governor-general in May.
It was an experience the Canberra resident described as “extraordinary”, remembering Her Majesty’s “cheeky” sense of humour and genuine interest in her story.
“You’re sitting there thinking, ‘what on earth am I going to say to this magical, royal, regal woman? Who am I to be addressing her?'” Mrs Dempsey recalled to the PA news agency.
The governor-general had then proceeded to tell the Queen: “I have to tell you, Your Majesty, wherever I go to all these disasters, I meet this woman, she beats me, she’s already there”.
“What an introduction,” the Queen had remarked before learning about Mrs Dempsey’s more than 50 years of dedication to St John Ambulance as a volunteer on the frontline of countless major disasters, including the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, flooding in Northern New South Wales and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“She was really switched on. She wanted to hear about my visiting people… (during the) floods, the fires, Covid… and the work that’s involved in caring for our carers,” Mrs Dempsey said, recalling how the monarch kept saying “it’s really such a good thing” about her efforts.
“She said to me, ‘First aid is (so important). How sensible (to have it as a skill). Everybody really should know a bit about that and to be able to respond and to react’.”
“I thought I could never have had a higher endorsement than that.”
For such selflessness, Mrs Dempsey was awarded Senior Australian of the Year in 2022.
During the video call with the Queen, Mrs Dempsey was deeply touched by her genuine interest in the award recipients, as well as her “cheeky” sense of humour.
“She was so switched on, she was bright and alert and she did the most wonderful thing, which is truly reflective listening,” Mrs Dempsey said.
“She listened to our stories and then asked questions directly about what I’d said. So you know, she was really very engaged, and so terribly keen to be able to meet us,” adding that it was the same day she withdrew from attending Parliament House but wanted to keep her Zoom call appointment with the 2022 Australians of the Year.
On Sunday, while attending a birthday party in her hometown of Canberra, she had been shocked to receive the invitation to the Queen’s funeral from the prime minister’s office.
“Oh my goodness. What an honour, what an absolute honour,” Mrs Dempsey said of the invitation.
She added she had been a great admirer of the Queen since the first time she glimpsed her – or rather her motorcade – when she was a kindergarten pupil during her first visit to Australia in 1954. It was the first time a reigning monarch had made the trip Down Under, with the Queen to make 16 trips in total during the course of her 70-year reign.
“She started in me, from that moment, that absolute desire to be a part of the service that people give before self. (She was a) very inspiring lady,” Mrs Dempsey said.
“She was a regal, lovely lady (who gave) her best to the very end.”
On Thursday evening in Australia, Mrs Dempsey will leave for London in an Australian delegation which will include prime minister Anthony Albanese, the governor-general and nine other citizens who, like her, “have made extraordinary contributions to their communities”.
“As it turned out, it was at the direct request of the Queen,” Mrs Dempsey explained. “It was in her wishes that ordinary people should come to the funeral so (the prime minister is) complying with that.
“And I’ve gotta tell you, I’m extremely ordinary. There’s nothing flash about me,” she joked.
The other “ordinary Australians” will include this year’s Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, the 2021 senior Australians of the Year Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, local heroes Shanna Whan, Saba Abraham and Kim Smith, 2021 Western Australian of the Year Dr Helen Milroy, South Australian young Australian of the Year Trudy Lin, i4give day founder Danny Abdallah and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame’s Chris Waller.
Accompanying them will be four leaders from the Pacific Commonwealth nations of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa and Papua New Guinea who accepted Australia’s invitation to travel with its delegation earlier this week.
