Filmed her many times over the years, she always seemed very pleasant. Of course she would never acknowledge us mere mortals with cameras! Did however meet the king (as Prince of Wales) in 2018. I was commissioned by Associated Press to film his Easter message to the Commonwealth. Stefan was with me as a second camera. There was about a dozen people in the room we had set up in 2 hours before. We had to be lined up to greet him when he came in and I was told to stand nearest the door. In he came rubbing his hands together with a broad smile and I was introduced to him. Shook hands and his aide said Steve is the cameraman sir, to which he replied ‘Oh you’re the cameraman! Well it’s a bloody good job you’re here then isn’t it!’ and roared with laughter. He then met Stef and the reporting team.
He gave his address to camera (using a teleprompter - a screen in front of the lens with his speech scrolling on it) in one perfect take. The plan was to then re-set for a one-to-one interview with an AP reporter, with mine and Stef’s cameras covering. The aide whispered in his ear and he looked at his watch and with a cheery wave to us all and was gone! I’m no royalist - I tolerate them. To be fair Charles does have a good attitude to things of an ecological nature. They’re too embedded in our society and we have no lust for change as a country, so they stay on. Maybe during the next civil war! Cotty Footnote: To those that met Stefan when I brought him along to GFM in 2007 was it? and elsewhere, Stef is now living with his partner Eloise (seamstress in feature films) in Wimbledon and works as a freelance cameraman usually for ITV News at Millbank - opposite parliament and close to Downing Street. Lots of political filming, and also for AP doing red carpet filming for newly released feature films. So he’s doing really well and enjoying life as only a 29 year old could :-) On 8 Sep 2022, at 19:29, Daniel J. Matyola <danmaty...@gmail.com> wrote: Condolences to all in the UK on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. While I find the concept of royalty troubling, I respect those who looked up to her as a symbol of Great Britain and what it stands for. She was a rock of stability in some very unsettled times for her hation and the world. -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.