Coming Face to Face with the Queen!

I queued up early and the Queen walked right past me. Like two feet away. We made eye contact and I mumbled out a "Good morning" to her. I don't think I remembered to say "Ma'am" as the protocol people had instructed. No matter. She was right there, with that fixed smile on her face. I took these pictures-without a zoom! Big yellowish-green hat with flowers--that was her! This is totally freaky. Yowza!

Meanwhile, there was every type of law enforcement known to man including cops on horses, cops on motorcycles, cops in cop cars, cops in SUVs, cops on foot, cops in helicopters, secret Service, SWAT, even two snipers on the roof of the adjacent building. Between them and the media it was quite the circus! Still, it was an amazing moment in time. It makes me appreciate how much this 81 year old has to put up with just to be out and about. I guess there are a few perks to the job, too, though. ;)