Second-chance rose: senior gets to deliver royal flowers 72 years late

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CALGARY – An Alberta woman finally had her brush with royalty on Friday _ after missing her first chance more than seven decades ago.

Frances Miller of Medicine Hat presented red roses to Kate just before the duchess boarded a plane with her husband, Prince William, to leave Calgary for Los Angeles.

“It didn’t seem real. They were there, but it just didn’t seem like it was really happening,” said Miller, 81.

“But I know it did. It was a wonderful experience, a very wonderful experience.”

Miller was nine when she was chosen to present flowers to Queen Elizabeth, mother of the current monarch. Elizabeth was with her husband, King George, on a cross-Canada train trip, which was supposed to stop in Miller’s southern Alberta hometown of Walsh.

“Many people had gathered there because they didn’t want to go to Medicine Hat because there would be more people. They thought there would be a better view in Walsh,” said Miller.

“So the train continued on and didn’t stop. And then somebody wrote the Queen and told her what happened. So I got a letter from Buckingham Palace and the picture of the family at that time saying that they were sorry that this happened.”

Miller said she couldn’t remember exactly what Kate said to her and William wanted to know more about the 1939 incident.

“It’s just all over so quickly,” Miller said, calling the couple “personable” and “down-to-earth.”

Miller said it was her granddaughter, Kara Meier, who is to thank for the long-overdue royal encounter.

Meier, a 27-year-old hair stylist, mentioned her grandmother’s story to a client _ who also happened to be a local reporter. Word spread, and the Medicine Hat News campaigned to add Miller to the couple’s itinerary.

Meier stood beside her grandmother on the tarmac during the visit.

“It meant everything to her,” Miller said.

Miller was told she could pick one person to stand with her. At first she thought of her husband.

“And he said: ‘You know, (Meier) is the one that started this whole thing and so I think she should’, and of course she was delighted,” said Miller

“She’s only 27 so she’s got a lifetime to remember the experience.”

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