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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Rose Hill

Queen's bodyguard shares touching way she would put terrified celebs at ease

The Queen 's former bodyguard has opened up about how she would put those meeting her at ease - including "melting" celebs.

Keith Hanson worked with the monarch from 2003 until 2020 at the Investitures, which he hailed as a "privilege".

Speaking from Lincolnshire via video link on Good Morning Britain, he said: "It was a great and wonderful thing to do.

"When you saw the people when they're called forward and you'd see the abject fear in their faces.

"To manage the situation... she'd ask them to relax a bit... many famous people just melted before her. Her ability to calm them down was unsurpassed."

Earlier in the show, Lady Sarra Hoy revealed that she queued for 11 hours to see the Queen 's coffin in the church she wed her husband.

The lawyer, who is wed to cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, shared her "beautiful and touching" experience visiting St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

She explained she had woken up at 6am to make the journey, arriving at the cathedral at 7.30am. However, it wasn't until 6.30pm that she would be able to go inside.

He spoke about his experience on GMB (ITV)

Explaining why she had wanted to visit the Queen, she said: "I grew up in a military family... I had met the Queen on a couple of occasions.

"The Queen was woven into every fabric of our lives... she has been that level, steadfast force in all of our lives [...] She has made a connection with people not just as a head of state... but also on a personal level."

He hailed his time with the Queen as a 'privilege' (ITV)

On queueing up to go into St Giles, where she wed Sir Chris in 2010, she said that it was a "very bonding experience".

"It was really beautiful and really touching," she said. "Going into St Giles is one part of the experience but queueing and speaking to those in the line... it was a very bonding experience.

"The mood was very sombre but there was touches of humour."

*Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV

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