TWO girls’ loyalty to royalty backfired in a spectacular way.
Victoria Cox and Claire Mather, both eight, went to Oxford railway station to wave goodbye to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they visited the city in June 1983.
But the two friends, members of Garsington Brownies, made the mistake of wearing their Brownie uniforms.
And when Brown Owl spotted their picture on the front page of the Oxford Mail the next day, she was furious.
Rather than praise them for their loyal behaviour, she threw them out of the Brownie pack because they didn’t have permission to wear their uniforms.
The two girls joined a party of Garsington Cubs invited to the station by Claire’s father, David, who was British Railways’ Oxford area manager and the village Cub leader.
Victoria, now Dr Victoria Cox, who lives in Yorkshire, recalls: “I think Brown Owl was annoyed that other Brownies hadn’t been invited.
“We joined Cowley Brownies, but we were upset that we had to leave our friends.”
The Queen and the Duke were invited to Oxford to attend a garden party at Rhodes House, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Rhodes Scholarships, which bring students from all over the English speaking world to Oxford University.
The Duke had arrived first, in a helicopter which landed on New College playing field.
He was forced to wait on the pavement outside Rhodes House for 10 minutes until the Queen arrived in a Rolls-Royce.
After the garden party, the Queen and the Duke attended a private reception at Oriel College.
Crowds packed the pavements and cheered and clapped as they arrived in Oriel Square.
Later, the Royal couple left Oxford for Edinburgh on the Royal train, hauled by Class 47 diesel locomotive, Great Western, with Oxford driver Ken Godding in charge.
Victoria and Claire were on the platform to wave them off, not knowing the wrath that was soon to come their way.
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