A proud royal superfan and felt she "had to" get a tattoo to mark the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Gemma Leigh Daysh, who even named her bakery Cookie Queen after the late monarch learned of Her Majesty's death while waiting at the airport for a flight to Turkey.
The mum-of-two and "avid historian", who already had a few tattoos before her appointment, says she spent every night of the family holiday watching news coverage about the Queen's death and knew she had to do something special to mark the historical event upon her return to the UK.
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Gemma, of Fareham, Hants, said: “The Queen’s death was actually announced as I was sat in the airport with my kids waiting to fly to Turkey for a week. I spent every night of the holiday sat on the balcony watching all the coverage of her death on the news.
"I’m a very avid historian, I love our country's history and royal history in particular. I love going to the royal palaces and absorbing the values our country was built on.
“The Queen has done so much for our country, I’m not sure people are aware of everything she accomplished in her reign. She’s very special to me.”
The 38-year-old bakery owner had been tempted to get a tattoo while on holiday but eventually decided to wait until she returned, heading to the Portsmouth Ink tattoo studio in Cosham.
Gemma - mum to Ivy, eight, and Charlie, 14 - recalled: “I went in and just said to the girls I’ve got to get this done for the Queen."
The tattooist, who is located just three doors down from Gemma's bakery business, charged her just £20 for her latest ink, for work which would have usually cost £ 80 per hour.
Gemma continued: “I’ve already got a few tattoos, for my children and even one for my business, so I was just so tempted. And I just thought I’m definitely going to get it done.”
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