An ex-serviceman remembers his first encounter with the Queen...and the mess his daughter made of Her Majesty's dress. 

As many came together across the country on Monday, the late monarch's funeral was screened live on TV in pubs, such as The Two Tubs pub in Bury town centre. 

Known for its affiliation with servicemen and veterans, there was a clear feeling of patriotism and nostalgia in the pub.

One customer who epitimised this sentiment was John Slater, 58, who served his country for 27 years.

John was fortunate enough to meet Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace after being invited to a garden party. 

However, while he thought meeting the Queen would be shaking hands and moving on, his four-year-old daughter had other plans. 

He said: "I was lucky enough to be invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace and the Queen was coming around and shaking hands with everybody as she did

“My daughter, who was about four at the time, had ice cream in her hand and she just put it on the Queen’s dress.

“Everybody was running around including the ladies in waiting to try to rub the dress down.

“The Queen just stopped and like normal just said 'leave it'.

“She was brilliant, she just rubbed my daughter on the head and that's my one and only meeting with the Queen.

 “I have seen her many times in my military career but I've never been invited back again!”

John joked about the incident and how calm and collected the Queen was before praising the funeral procession which had just taken place. 

He added: "Who does a funeral like that? Who can do a funeral like the British army and the British forces? Nobody, so it was incredible to watch." 

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