Ken and Emily Chapman recall Queen Elizabeth II visit Skyrail Rainforest Cableway visit in 2002

The historic moment, a little blond girl handed the Queen a posy of flowers during a Cairns visit, has 20 years later recalled her agony and then ecstasy of the encounter. Read what happened.

A WOMAN disappointed as a child that her visit from the Queen was cancelled, has shared the life-changing moment she finally got to meet the royal.

Emily Chapman, 26, was seven-years-old when she remembers meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Kuranda in 2002.

“The trip was actually postponed, so I remember being interviewed by the Cairns Post when I was six and I had been practising my curtsies for quite a while,” she said.

“So I was pretty upset I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen.”

“Then the following year she finally came and I remember my curtsy was perfect.”

Ms Chapman remembers the exact moment she was finally graced with the Queen’s presence.

“Once she finally came, my family gave me these purple beautiful flowers to give to her,” she said.

“I remember my brother was very excited and he screamed, ‘I’d just turned five’ and she said. ‘Oh wow, that’s very special, you are a big boy.’

“It was very special and I am very lucky to have that opportunity to meet her.”

Ms Chapman said Friday was a very sad day for the world because the Queen was very inspiring.

“She’s the only Queen I’ve known and one thing that amazed me about her, right up until her last day, she was riding horses and fulfilling her duties,” she said.

“It’s inspiring really.”

Her father, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway director Ken Chapman said he remembered that visit vividly.

“She travelled down from Kuranda to Smithfield with Prince Philip,” he said.

Queen Elizabeth II during her Cairns visit in 2002. Picture: Supplied.

“My father travelled with the Queen and a bodyguard and I travelled in the next cabin with Prince Philip.”

Mr Chapman said the visit benefited the region and was a real highlight in Skyrail’s history.

“A real treat for all of us was she met all the staff, they stopped and shook hands,” he said.

“We had international publicity for the whole region.

“That was why she did it I suppose. Most things the Queen did, it was for the benefit of other people and it was certainly for the benefit of Cairns.”

Mr Chapman said he even remembered seeing the Queen during her visit in 1970.

“One of my earliest memories in fact is the first visit in the 70s when I was a little kid and I remember the Rolls-Royce driving past,” he said.

Going back to Mr Chapman’s childhood, she was a huge influence.

“She’s been the Queen for longer than I’ve been alive so it really was a historic legacy she has left for us all,” he said.

Originally published as Ken and Emily Chapman recall Queen Elizabeth II visit Skyrail Rainforest Cableway visit in 2002