Recalling the Queen in Sackville: ‘I think she thought I was pretty cute’
Erin Campbell was only six when she met Queen Elizabeth II, but she remembers it like it was yesterday. It helps that the event was a true family affair.
Back in 1984, the Queen toured New Brunswick to help celebrate the province’s 200th anniversary as a province. Sackville was chosen as a stop, and plans were underway for an event at Mount Allison’s MacAuley field.
Campbell’s father, Bill Campbell, was mayor at the time and the Queen’s organizers asked for a 6-year-old girl to present flowers to her majesty at the ceremony. “I happened to be six, and so I got the job,” recalls Campbell.
Campbell’s grandfather, a British WWII veteran, served as her escort, as Mayor Campbell and Erin’s mother Barbara were on stage with the Queen and gathered dignitaries. Campbell recalls her medaled grandfather “was quite proud to be waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.”
There were preparations before the big day. “I remember having to go to Convocation Hall to practice how to curtsy,” recalls Campbell. “I had to go practice walking the stage many times in shoes that I didn’t want to wear,” she says, “to practice how to curtsy and how to properly present myself.”