The Queen’s Telegram

It’s the tradition in the UK for Her Majesty The Queen to send a telegram to those of her subjects who manage to reach the ripe old age of 100. I’d never actually seen one of these fabled things until last week. But now, thanks to my only surviving uncle, I have. He turned 100 last Thursday, and I travelled to the Isle of Man to join in the celebrations. His mind is still pin sharp, he’s just a bit slow in moving about – but he still exercises every day (as he told me with some pride). If ever I manage to last as long as he has, I sincerely hope I’m in equally good condition.

 

Anyway, the telegram… I’d always imagined it to be literally an old-fashioned telegram – you know, the piece of paper with a printed strip of words cut up and pasted on it: "Happy birthday STOP Best Wishes STOP Betty Windsor STOP". But not a bit of it – it actually looks like a superior Birthday Card – with a photograph of Betty on the front, and an uplifting message inside, with her signature (probably written by a machine, he said, cynically).

 

And while the pedants amongst you have probably realised that the Isle of Man is not actually part of the UK, the Queen’s tradition is extended to the island. In fact, she has her representative on the island, in the shape of the Lieutenant Governor – currently His Excellency Air Marshall Ian MacFadyen CB OBE – and he not only sent his own congratulations to my uncle, but he was there in person, along with his good lady wife, at the celebratory High Tea served to over 100 guests in the local church hall.