EXCLUSIVE: This RI Governor Dined Next to Queen Elizabeth II Aboard Royal Yacht
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
EXCLUSIVE: This RI Governor Dined Next to Queen Elizabeth II Aboard Royal Yacht
In an interview with GoLocalProv, Noel said that not only did he receive the Queen at Hillsgrove Airport in Warwick — but that in telling her jokes in the car to official events in Newport, he clearly courted her favor.
That night at a dinner aboard the HMS Britannia in Newport, Noel said the Queen was supposed to sit next to President Gerald Ford.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTExcept, that is, when she asked to be seated next to Noel instead.
“She was delightful,” said Noel on Thursday, after the Queen passed away following a brief illness at the age of 96.
Noel — the former Warwick City Council and Mayor before being elected Governor — said it had been “hard to believe” he found himself sitting next to the Queen of England.
And now, at 91 years of age, he remembers the occasion as if it were yesterday.
“They sent two protocol officers to the Governor’s office to give us instructions as to how to receive her Majesty — they came twice,” said Noel of the preparations for the Queen's, who added that her Majesty's officers “looked like twins with black suits and bowties.”
“They told us there’d be a red carpet coming from the plane, and approximately 24 feet from the plane, there would table on which there would be a gift for me to give her,” Noel added.
Noel said they were given specific instructions about how to bow, and how no one was ever allowed to touch the Queen.
“General Howland, our protocol officer, at the second time they said you can’t touch the Queen, told the British officers, 'When you get back to England. you tell them to not touch the First Lady!” said Noel, laughing at the memory.
When he finally met the Queen in person, Noel said the first thing she took note of was her diminutive size.
“She was tiny, and barely five feet. I was 6”2’,” said Noel.
The former Governor said that hundreds of people had flocked to Hillsgrove to catch a glimpse of the monarch — and not only did he make it happen, he broke protocol.
“We were walking along the fence [at the airport], and people were waving and cheering — except I found myself closest to the fence and the Queen was to the inside of me, and kept peeking around to wave to the crowds,” said Noel.
So what did Noel, the former All-State and Ivy-League football star do?
“I lifted her up and put her on the other side of me, closer to the crowd,” he said. “She weighed barely anything.”
Noel said he was then seated in one of the cars with the Queen for the procession to the official ceremonies in Newport, where she was to gift one of the two original King James Bibles.
“So here we are riding, we were told we can’t do this, can’t do that, and no one’s talking,” said Noel.
It was at that point that the Governor decided to tell a joke, which he swears he can’t recall.
“She just laughed and laughed,” said Noel. And so he told another joke.
“Now she was laughing uncontrollably,” said Noel.
So much so, that when they got to Newport, Noel said she took out a makeup compact to check her makeup, and saw that her mascara had run.
“She said, ‘Governor, what should I do?’” said Noel. “I said let’s just get out, your Majesty — they’re all waiting for you, and they love you.”
“It was the most spectacular experience I had in politics,” said Noel.
That night, a group of “about 20 or so” people dined about the HMS Britannia in Newport harbor, said Noel, including President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
The Queen, according to Noel, told her officers, that despite being arranged to sit next to Ford, that she wanted to be seated next to Noel instead.
“So I have to go to the President - who I knew and had a great relationship with, I’d even call him ‘Jerry’ — but at this instance, I said, ‘Mr. President, apparently the Queen requested to sit next to me,’” said Noel. “And he just burst out laughing.”
Following dinner, in a reception in one of the other staterooms, Noel said he and Ford were sitting near the Queen discussing their football days.
“Ford could see through my pants that I was wearing knee braces — which I was. They were state of the art and just introduced,” said Noel. “So Ford said, ‘Can I see them?”
“So I lift up my pants leg to show him, and the Queen turns to us and says, ‘Governor Noel…is that your knee?” said Noel.
“At that point, Kissinger turned white as a ghost,” said Noel, laughing.
Noel said he had “done his homework,” before the Queen’s arrival - and decided to ask her about foreign affairs.
And Noel said the Queen quickly launched into an animated discussion and was “much smarter” than her foreign affairs secretary or Kissinger.
“She was delightful, and her husband was the real deal. He gave up a promising military career to serve by her side,” said Noel.
Noel said he thinks he still has some photos of the day — including his father having been in attendance to meet the Queen at Hillsgrove — but that most of them he believes had been left behind with his official Governor materials.
This story was first published 9/8/22 2:58 PM