The Queen travelled throughout the UK for services on Maundy Thursday, visiting a different cathedral almost every year, and I always enjoyed going somewhere new to see her, sometimes close to home, and sometimes a long distance away. I always hoped that we would be able to see and take the posed group photo from a public area. Some years I had a fixed point pass, for a photographers' area with a good view, others I didn't, and saw nothing. Some years we saw Her Majesty at the local railway station as she arrived, having established that there would be no view outside the cathedral, and some years we were able to speak with with her on a walkabout afterwards. You never knew until the morning what was likely to happen, but there was generally an opportunity to photograph The Queen, and indeed The Duke of Edinburgh, still carrying their traditional nosegays. One of my most memorable Maundy experiences was outside Norwich Cathedral in 1996, shortly before my son was born, when a gentleman who was standing beside me, insisted on holding onto the small stepladder on which I was balancing my obviously pregnant self, to ensure that I didn't overbalance and topple off. My confidence in my ability to remain upright was far greater than his, and this complete stranger ended up with no view of The Queen himself, in order to make sure that I was safe, something about which I have always felt slightly guilty. A couple of years later the service was in Portsmouth, and after lunch we were waiting for the royal party to depart from The Deanery when I was invited to cross the road and wait by the door with my toddler, who had flowers for The Queen. We stood there for some time, during which, unnoticed by me, Zachary proceeded to pick the petals off the flowers that I was holding in one hand while carrying him in the opposite arm, blocking the view of the flowers. When The Queen emerged, she smiled as we stepped forward, laughing as I realised, too late, that we now had a bunch of bare stalks and a single flower to hand over. She accepted them as gracefully as if they were an enormous bouquet, while I resolved that I would never again take my eyes off flowers for The Queen until they were handed over - small boys are not to be trusted.