2022/2023
Collection 18

A Royal Opportunity

1992; Castle Bromwich, England, United Kingdom

It was a gorgeous fall day when my grandpa Bob Ellis met Queen Elizabeth II. He had been to England many times for work, but this time was special. He worked for Johnson Controls, Inc., which made the seats for Jaguar Cars, which was big in England. Grandpa had traveled to Castle Bromwich,(1) England, for the grand opening of a new Jaguar auto assembly plant. The factory was going to supply thousands of jobs, so the queen herself was going to the grand opening.

A few months earlier, while my grandpa was still in Michigan, Jaguar had sent him a form for a background check as well as an incredibly thick packet about the proper protocol for meeting the queen. Information like how to address her, how to show proper respect for her, and other things like that were included in the packet.

When the time came to go to the grand opening, my grandpa and other employees from Johnson Controls went to the assembly plant, which was HUGE! They walked through the building and came to a large room. There were about two hundred people there in total, and Grandpa’s group was only about eight. The people were arranged in two lines facing each other and stretching all the way across the room.

Grandpa’s group was somewhere in the middle of one of the lines. Queen Elizabeth was greeting their line, and Prince Philip was greeting the other, which was made up mostly of assembly-plant workers. The queen looked very regal. She was wearing a dress of purple, pink, and blue, and a purple hat.

The queen made her way down the line and finally got to Grandpa. The chairman of Jaguar Cars was with her and introduced her to Grandpa. “Your Majesty,” he said, “this is Mr. Vanellis.”

“How nice to meet you, Mr. Vanellis,” replied the queen, maintaining perfect eye contact.

“Vanellis?” thought Grandpa. “My last name is ‘Ellis,’ and my middle name is ‘Van.’ They must have combined them.” He wasn’t about to correct the queen, but it was still funny. He tried not to laugh, and he bowed his head as he had been instructed in the protocol packet.

“Your Majesty, how do you do?” he said, instead of laughing.

The queen reached out her delicate gloved hand, and Grandpa gently shook it.

“Mr. Vanellis works for the company that makes the seats for our Jaguar vehicles,” explained the chairman.

“Oh, the green seats in my Jaguar are very comfortable,” the queen acknowledged.

“I’m so glad,” replied Grandpa.

“It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Vanellis,” the queen concluded. They took a picture, and she moved on.

The experience was short, but unforgettable: the dainty white gloves, how they got his name wrong, and how focused the queen was on the conversation — like they were the only ones in the room. He couldn’t believe that he was one of only a handful of people that had met her. It truly was a royal opportunity.

Kaitlyn De Groot; Missouri, USA

1. Castle Bromwich is the name of a village about 115 miles northwest of London, England.

This copyrighted story may be copied and/or printed for limited classroom or personal use. To reprint this story in an article about The Grannie Annie, please contact The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration for permission.

Return to "Collection 18" stories page