Emma Prime's daughter Ainsley Hewatt feels a closer connection to Queen Elizabeth II than most 15-year-olds.
And it might have something to do with meeting the monarch during the Queen's 2011 visit to Canberra, her final visit to the capital.
"I actually changed my appointments to finish early and make sure we could get to the War Memorial," Ms Prime said.
"We picked some roses from our garden, [took] a couple of prickles off, tied a ribbon around, made them all nice.
"And we tried to teach the kids just a few, some courtesy with the queen."
The security detail allowed the children to cross the barricade, ensuring the Queen would walk past them, Ms Prime said.
"She walked right alongside all of them and collected flowers from them all, which was lovely," she said.
The family are among a few Canberrans who feel fortunate enough to meet the Queen or be in her presence.
The Queen had visited Canberra on 14 occasions, only missing the capital while in Australia twice.
During the 1992 royal visit, Julie Nichols spotted the Queen near Dubbo Zoo as she worked for the RAAF as a flight steward.
Jim Smith was in the presence of the Queen when he worked for the United Kingdom government in Washington.
"I'm sure must be very trying having to meet hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people [and] being somebody that they will remember meeting," he said.
"And she managed to do that with graciousness and with a smile."
Roslyn Hull, who set up an exhibition called The Queen and Me, recalled a story she heard from a local mother.
"[A] little girl [was] chosen to give flowers to the Queen and she practised curtsying and she told her mum afterwards, 'Mum, it was like talking to your grandma, she was so tiny and soft,'" she said.
"Just realising she is a real person - that was just a gob-smacking moment for people."
Years the Queen visited Australia
- 1954
- 1963
- 1970
- 1973
- 1974
- 1977
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1986
- 1988
- 1992
- 2000
- 2002
- 2003
- 2011
