I admit it, I stood in the Aldwych and cheered her on her 90th birthday parade. She once passed within a few feet of me at an official reception, and the main thing I remember is how tiny she was. She did well to last to 102 - I wonder if QE2 will last as long?

She was a character, and will be sorely missed. She had a sense of humour, a liking for the horses, a penchant for the odd G & T and a sense of duty and a dignity that none of the wives of her grandsons could ever come close to. "They don't make 'em like that any more!"

Alan