The Queen saw the funny side when a mobile phone rang at a crucial moment as she officially opened a £22 million hospice building. The 96-year-old monarch, joined by the Princess Royal, was making a rare public appearance outside Windsor Castle, to formally launch the new home of the Thames Hospice, which has been welcoming royals for decades.
Just as she was introduced to Graham White and his wife Pat, who has stage 4 cancer and is receiving respite care at the centre in Maidenhead, his phone rang and he reached into his pocket to turn it off. The Queen quipped: “Typical, a phone goes off immediately”, and Mr White sheepishly said it was his son ringing.
Mrs White sat as she chatted to the Queen, who stood and leaned on her now familiar walking stick, and afterwards the 63-year-old described the encounter as “very emotional”, adding: “This is a memory that I will treasure.”
