The former director of the Great Yorkshire Show, Bill Cowling, has paid tribute to the Queen who he chaperoned during her last visit in 2008.
Mr Cowling, who is also a retired Deputy Lieutenant of North YorkshireDeputy , said her death was a “tremendous shock” and it felt like losing a family member.
He described the Queen’s visit to the showground in Harrogate as one of the highlights of his career.
He recalled talking to her in the back of a Range Rover and enjoying lunch with her at the president’s pavilion.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“I was so very lucky to have met her. To think I sat and talked to her over an extended period of time was a huge honour. It’s something I shall remember forever.
“Her ability to put me at my ease – and everybody else she met – was an amazing thing. She was such a consummate professional at what she was doing.”
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Mr Cowling said not only was the Queen a lover of animals, but she also had a great appreciation of agriculture and rural life.
He said:
“She knew what she was looking at in the way of horses, but also cattle and sheep. She had a huge interest in all the exhibitors and their livelihoods.”
The Queen unveiling a plaque to commemorate the start of work on the Regional Agricultural Centre in 2008.
Mr Cowling said, like the rest of the nation, he will now start coming to terms with the change.
He said:
King Charles III’s long links to the Harrogate district“There’s no doubt a change has happened. But I’m confident King Charles III will make a splendid King. Again at the show, I was privileged to have met him a few times and his interest and empathy with rural life is the same.”
King Charles has built strong links with the Harrogate district over many decades.
He is patron of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, a position he took up when the group faced the mammoth challenge of raising £2.7m to save the historic building.
Opened in 1903, the hall was forced to close less than 100 years later when part of its ceiling collapsed, leaving it in need of more than £13m of repairs.
An urgent project was undertaken to carry out repairs, led by Harrogate Borough Council and the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Once work was completed, King Charles officially opened the newly refurbished Royal Hall in 2008, welcomed by its chairman, the late Lilian Mina MBE.
In support of the trust, King Charles said:
“As Patron of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, I am delighted to lend my support to the Trust’s efforts to raise the funds towards the restoration of this unique part of our national heritage.
“Over the past one-hundred years, this magnificent building has faithfully served the people of Harrogate and the surrounding district in many different roles.
“The inherent versatility of Frank Matcham’s brilliant concept for this theatre building has enabled the Royal Hall to be used for a range of purposes – from a cinema to a boxing arena, from an area for exhibition displays to a dance hall; from ballet to theatre performances, from school speech days to concert hall – the list is almost endless.
“It has truly justified the “act of faith in the future of the town” made by those far-sighted local leaders who were so inspirational in its creation and who saw it as a vital part of Harrogate’s future prosperity.
“I would urge you to support the appeal in any way that you can.”
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King Charles has other long-standing links to the Harrogate district.
King Charles is a freeman of the city of Ripon, an honour conveyed to him in 2002 for his support to the community.
A plaque was unveiled near the front door of the town hall to mark the occasion and the future king visited the city for the occasion.
His interest in farming and the countryside saw him become patron of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society in 1998, taking the role from the Queen who had held it since 1952.
His first visit to the Great Yorkshire Show was the following year, 1999. He returned in 2006, 2011 and 2015, accompanied by the Queen Consort.
Their last visit was last summer, when the show was held over four days for the first time in order to enable more social distancing during the covid pandemic.
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Bells ring out across the district once more as Charles III proclaimed King
Bells are ringing out once more across the Harrogate district today to formally proclaim King Charles III as the new sovereign.
This time it is a celebratory peal to mark the King’s ascension to the throne.
The Reverend Judith Clark, assistant curate on placement at St Peter’s, Harrogate, said:
“When the bells ring out today they will be unmuffled for the proclamation of King Charles III.”
After today, bells will then be muffled again until the day of the Queen’s funeral.
Churches remain open today for tributes, reflection and mourning.
Special services in commemoration of the Queen are also taking place across the district, including at St Peter’s Church, St John’s, Knaresborough, and Ripon Cathedral.
Harrogate ceremony to mark proclamation of King Charles III on SundayThe mayor of Harrogate will read the proclamation of the new King at the town’s war memorial on Sunday.
At the moment Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday as the UK’s longest-serving monarch, the throne passed immediately and without ceremony to her son Charles, the former Prince of Wales.
But there are a number of traditional steps which he must go through to be crowned King Charles III.
It is expected that Charles will be officially proclaimed King on Saturday at St James’s Palace in London. After this, the historic occasion will be marked up and down the country at smaller ceremonies.
In Harrogate, councillor Victoria Oldham, mayor of the district, will read the proclamation at the War Memorial opposite Bettys from 4pm on Sunday (September 11).
Paying tribute to the Queen’s “constant source of courage and inspiration” yesterday, Cllr Oldham said:
“Throughout her 70-year reign, she has touched so many of our lives and led us through many dark but also many positive times.
“On behalf of everyone across the Harrogate district, I would like to offer our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Royal Family during this time.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.”
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A book of condolence is available in the reception of Harrogate’s civic centre for people to pay their respects to the Queen.
This will be available between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am and 4.30pm on Fridays.
An online book of condolence is also available on Buckingham Palace’s website.
Harrogate Borough Council has asked that any floral tributes for the Queen are left on the grassed area in front of the Cenotaph.
The authority – along with North Yorkshire County Council – has also cancelled all of next week’s public meetings as a mark of respect.