Monarch had cool head during King’s House dinner blackout

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) ex-servicemen who had the honour of meeting Queen Elizabeth II were saddened by news of the passing of the monarch on Thursday as the news spread around the globe.

The Queen, who made six trips to Jamaica during her seven-decades-long reign, died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96.

Lt Col (Ret’d) Christopher Lobban, who served in the JDF for 26 years, first met the Queen at a banquet dinner held at the governor general’s residence, where the monarch also resided during the visit.

Sir Howard Cooke was serving as Jamaica’s governor general at the time.

During the dinner at King’s House in 2002, a power outage caused JDF personnel to scamper around the residence in search of candles and kerosene lamps.

Lobban was among JDF members assisting to adequately light the dining hall for the dinner to go ahead.

He said that, by the end of the night, the Queen had sent him a message to inquire whether he had eaten after his labour.

Lobban told The Gleaner that, despite at times appearing stern and serious, Queen Elizabeth II was the polar opposite to what many people had imagined. She had a pleasant demeanour and was very kind and friendly.

“Don’t watch that exterior, because there is always a difference between the state side and the personal side,” said Lobban, who was the longest-serving aide-de-camp to Sir Howard, from 1996 to 2002.

He revealed that he met Her Majesty for the second time while attending a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which saw the governors general of all Commonwealth nations gathering at Windsor Castle, the royal residence in Berkshire, England.

“You know what she said to me? The first time she saw me, she said to me, ‘Have you got the lights back yet?’,” Lobban recalled with a chuckle. “That sort of humour you would have never known.”

When he learned of her death, which was announced at approximately 12:30 p.m. Jamaica time on Thursday, Lobban said that he experienced a feeling of shock and sadness.

“I feel it because she would have served the Commonwealth for a prolonged period. From I born, I know Queen Elizabeth II and, from I interacted with her, there is a certain amount of sadness for me in her passing,” he said, adding that she was someone who the world knew but had forgotten about her mortality.

“She’s a grandmother, she’s a mother. She’s been one of those global cornerstones,” he said.

The Queen’s first trip to Jamaica was in November 1953. Thirteen years later in 1966, Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, made a four-day visit to Jamaica.

She also visited in 1975 and then in February 1983 as the island celebrated its 21st anniversary of Independence.

During a tour of the Caribbean in March 1994, the Queen and Prince Philip arrived in Jamaica at the Victoria Pier in downtown Kingston on the Royal Yacht Britannia, a 125-metre-long vessel which was moored in Kingston Harbour and served as her official and private residence while in the island.

As part of her Golden Jubilee, she visited Jamaica in February 2002. This visit coincided with the country’s 40th anniversary of Independence.

The Queen made a few stops during that three-day visit to the island, one of which was to the Cenotaph at the National Heroes Park in Kingston, where she paid tribute to servicemen who lost their lives in World Wars I and II.

Several Jamaicans turned out to greet her and Prince Philip while waving the national flag.

The Royals also graced Gordon House, where the Queen addressed a special sitting of legislators from both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament

Former defence advisor in London and JDF soldier Col (Ret’d) Linton Graham treasures his encounters with the Queen.

He was recognised by the Royal Navy when he participated in the official salute at the passing-out parade for graduates of the HMS Raleigh, a Royal Navy training facility.

He once met the Queen in 1975, while she was in Jamaica, and was given a replica of a photograph of herself and her husband.

He also met her during the reception at King’s House, where his wife, Sheila, was introduced to the monarch.

“She was a beautiful lady,” he said, noting that she always spoke with a commanding presence and authority and was very knowledgeable on foreign affairs.

Veteran broadcaster Fae Ellington, who has provided commentary during many national events and state visits, but before she would have been presented to the Queen alongside other media personnel, then 30 years old, received her first big opportunity which cemented her later future.

She narrated the arrival of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, to Jamaica in 1983.

“When you have a visit such as the Queen or head of state, if you are not asked to work, then you realise that you are not good enough because that is when they use the best speaker,” she said of her first coverage of a royal visit.

Her dedication was especially evident, given that she had recently given birth to her son, and she recalled the numerous meetings of preparation she had to attend, some of which she attended while nursing the infant.

Ellington, who has described herself as being anti-monarchy, said that, when she met the Queen, she was never into any “bow and square (curtsy)”, but that she saw the monarch as another human being.

he broadcaster said she did not feel intimidated and the Queen had not given a reason to feel so.

“The lady, as a person, I think she seems to be nice person and, when I met her, she was, in her own way, warm. I didn’t find that she was stand-offish. I looked her straight in the eye. I wasn’t in the deep curtsying, so I just nodded my head,” she said.

Ellington told The Gleaner that, if she had had the opportunity to interview the Queen, one burning topic she would have raised was the Queen’s perspective on slavery and how Britain has benefited from it.

Reparations has also been a thorny subject over the years, with debate reaching fever pitch whenever a member of the royal family visits the island.

Ellington stated that she believes that Jamaica should have abolished the monarchy and charted a new course as a republic from the 1970s.

“I wonder if any a dem a go brave fi say, ‘Mek we done dah someting ya’, because is something that I am passionate about. It might not be realistic, but a so me feel,” she said.

Ellington said that these lines of questioning were not with the intent to embarrass the Queen, but simply designed to get further insight from a woman who people did not get much insight from.

Although the Queen appeared in documentaries and special features over the years, she did not give press interviews.

“I’d also like to ask her: Was there a day that you got up and you said, ‘But this is foolishness – all of these chariots and this pomp and pageantry’? Did you ever feel at any point that we need to get rid of this?” she added.

Ellington, however, noted that Queen Elizabeth’s reign was successful.

Throughout her career, Ellington also gave coverage to the state visits of the Prince of Wales, Charles – now King Charles III; The Princess Royal, Princess Anne; and Prince Harry.

Ellington recalled having to maintain her composure on air when covering an event at Gordon House and witnessing someone climb into a soursop tree to catch a glimpse of the Queen, but who fell out of the tree.

She also covered the closing ceremony dinner for the Caribbean-Canada Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in 2015, and the visit of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine, in March 2022, during a state dinner at King’s House.