Barbara receives the royal mail

THERE'S not too many Clarence Valley residents who can lay claim to a relationship with Queen Elizabeth going back nearly 60 years.

President of Maclean Women’s Bowling Club Eileen O’Keefe and Barbara Bodycote, who did Girl Guides together in their younger years. Barbara met the Queen after receiving an award for Girl Guides, and recently received a thank you note from the Queen after writing her a letter about the monarch’s diamond jubilee. Photo: JoJo Newby

THERE'S not too many Clarence Valley residents who can lay claim to a relationship with Queen Elizabeth going back nearly 60 years.

Maclean's Barbara Bodycote is one who can.

In 1954 the young Barbara was one of the leading Girl Guides in the region and selected to meet the Queen on her tour of Australia that year.

"We went up to Casino to meet her. I can remember sitting in the gutter while we waited for her to arrive," Barbara said.

Barbara also recalls travelling around the region was a lot more difficult then than now.

"We left Casino to return to Maclean around 5pm and the traffic to use the Harwood punt was queued up for miles," she said.

"We didn't get home till 4am the next day."

The thrill of meeting the monarch and shaking her hand has stayed with Barbara since and when the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee earlier this year, Barbara penned a letter congratulating her.

On Monday she received a shock when an envelope arrived from Buckingham Palace.

"It is really beautiful, there's gold lettering and it looks so important," Barbara said.

Yesterday Barbara celebrated her 74th birthday at the Maclean Bowling Club and her letter of thanks from the Queen was one of the main talking points.

Originally published as Barbara receives the royal mail