New Zealand a rugby legend Sean Fitzpatrickwho visited Buckingham Palace twice with All are blacksaid the deceased Queen Elizabeth II taught him invaluable etiquette.
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Fitzpatrick – more than 90 caps and a member of the team that won the first World Cup in 1987 – told the BBC that Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, who died last Thursday aged 96, was “very skilled at rugby”.
She presented the Webb Ellis Cup to Nick Farr-Jones, captain of 1991 World Cup winners Australia, at Twickenham after their victory over England.
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However, while Fitzpatrick could tell her little she didn’t already know about rugby, Queen Elizabeth was able to put him on the drinking protocol at Buckingham Palace when he paid his second visit there in 1997.
The Queen was a big fan of New Zealand, visiting 10 times – Fitzpatrick remembered waving the flag to a young boy as her motorcade passed by – with the last in 2002.
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He said his visits to Buckingham Palace were memorable.
“To come from New Zealand, 12,000 miles away, to see Buckingham Palace for the first time in 1989, to drive through the gates and wait in those amazing rooms was extraordinary.” The 59-year-old told the BBC on Wednesday.
“In 1997 I remember talking to the Queen and it was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
“We were served tea and I said to the Queen, ‘Madam, I remember the last time we were here we had a gin and tonic.’
“She said, ‘Sean, we don’t drink gin and tonics until after six o’clock.'”
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Fitzpatrick said he was honored to be a New Zealander in London at this historic time.
Sean Fitzpatrick is among those who lined the streets
He and his family were among the tens of thousands who lined the route Tuesday as her hearse was carried from the air force base to Buckingham Palace.
“For a New Zealander living in London and experiencing the outpouring of love is just amazing.
“We went up to Paddington last night to see her motorcade and what really struck me was the small talk about the Queen with people we’ve never met.
“Then suddenly a complete silence fell over the thousands of people lining the route as her procession passed by.
“We were very lucky to be there and see it.”
Garin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
