What Happened The 2 Times I Had Encounters With Queen Elizabeth- Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister

The passage of Queen Elizabeth of England has remained a dominant discussion point across the world. The charismatic Monarch died on Thursday at the age of 96 after reigning for 70 years.

Since the announcement of her death, the world has continued to celebrate her life and time, not only for being the longest serving Monarch in Britain but also for her elegance, charisma and royalty.

Speaking about her personality, former Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi described the late Queen as an embodiment of elegance, grace and grandeur.

Professor Akinyemi, while featuring on Friday edition of Arise TV Morning Show, shared his past experience with the late majesty and how wonderful she was in those moments.

According to the erudite professor of International Relations, he was relatively young when he had his first encounter with Queen Elizabeth in 1956. He was a young student of a Catholic school. He explained that she came to their School and she was among the kids that lined up to meet with the Queen.

That day, Queen Elizabeth had one on one interface with him and shook his hand for the first time. Same thing she did to the other kids on the line.

The second time he had an encounter with her was when he and some other people were to welcome the Queen somewhere in the UK. 

In her usual majestic way, the Queen arrived and was shaking hands with each of them on the line. What surprised Professor Akinyemi was that the Queen did not ask other people question when she was shaking their hands. But when it got to his turn, she asked him what does he do? 

In response, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi told her he was writing his Memoir. He said the Queen looked at him and bursted into laughter. She never believed him because she felt he was too young to be writing Memoir.

Unfortunately, Professor Akinyemi said he did not have the opportunity to explain to her that it was not actually what she thought. 

He wanted to tell her he was among the kids that welcome her to Catholic school in 1956. But the Queen had moved away from him and he would never forget such an encounter with her.

Professor Akinyemi shared these past experience with the late Queen on Arise TV while featuring as a guest on Friday.