FORMULA One racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart has recalled how he picked up the Queen and took her to Silverstone for a spin in a racing car.
He told GB News: “We must have done about six or 12 events…we got to know each other. And I said, by the way since you’re so keen on driving, would you like to come to Silverstone one day?
“So I went to Windsor to pick her up. We went to Silverstone, she drove a race car at Silverstone and she sat in a Formula One car as well.
“Then she drove very quickly around Silverstone and I was worried about that, I thought I was going to get in trouble with the management, so to speak.”
“We somehow just hit it off. She was a great friend. We just seemed to get on well together. My grandfather was a game keeper and Her Majesty was very good to all of her staff, and particularly gamekeepers and a man called Bill Meldrum, who trained all her dogs, for example.”
“I got to know Bill very well too and that relationship just broadened in a way and I feel so privileged.”
Sir Jackie also told how he should have been meeting the Queen today (WEDS).
“I should have been today in Balmoral. My son made a lovely film on me and the Queen wanted to see it. So my son Mark and I were supposed to be meeting this very day in Balmoral for the Queen to see the film.
“Sadly, that’s just not going to happen. She was just a terrific lady in every way…the speech that His Majesty gave was just fantastic.
“I thought it was just a fantastic speech. He was a new monarch and he carried it in a manner that the Queen would have been very proud, and I think that was a difficult move to see happening so quickly.
“That’s just a great statement for the future.”
