The former boss of the Tyne and Wear Metro has shared his memories of the Queen’s “tremendous” visit 20 years ago.
Mike Parker accompanied Queen Elizabeth II on board the Metro when she officially opened the Sunderland branch of the network during a royal visit in 2002, the year of her Golden Jubilee. After her death on Thursday at the age of 96, the former Nexus director general paid tribute to the long-serving monarch and looked back on what was a special day for the North East.
Mr Parker told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Queen’s death had left him “very sad, along with the rest of the country” and recalled her being “not the person I expected her to be” when they met. Her Majesty unveiled a plaque at Park Lane Interchange in Sunderland to celebrate the official opening of the new Metro line on May 7, 2002, before taking a train to Fellgate, where she was collected and taken for her next engagement.
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Mr Parker said: “It was tremendous because she was so natural. We were on board for around 20 minutes and we made conversation en route. I pointed out the Stadium of Light, which had been built quite recently, and told her that it was a shrine for football fans. She commented that she was going to West Ham the next week for some kind of dinner.
“We went past some pigeon lofts and told her that there were racing pigeons there. She told me that they had racing pigeons at Sandringham and they were looked after by an Italian employee there, who had used to be an ice cream seller.
“It was all very friendly and very natural, it was so much easier than I thought it would be to speak to her. I had expected her to be much more stilted and formal, but she spoke so normally and put us at ease. The whole day went tremendously well.”
While the Metro carrying the Queen did not stop on her journey, it slowed down at stations along the route so she could wave to local schoolchildren who had lined the platforms. Mr Parker remembered how she seemed to have a “sixth sense of when and how to wave”.
He has also recalled a funny moment getting into the lift at Fellgate station with the Queen, worrying what would happen if it broke down. Mr Parked added: “I remember thinking to myself that if this lift gets stuck it would be really bad for Nexus and the press would really go for that angle. I also couldn’t help but allow myself a little chuckle at what it might be like if we had got stuck in a lift with the Queen, even though we didn’t want it to happen. Thankfully the lift worked fine, and the visit concluded on time.”
Her Majesty had also officially opened the Metro when it first launched two decades prior, on November 6, 1981. On that day, she took a train from Monument to Gateshead and opened the QEII Metro bridge over the River Tyne.
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