A royal pen pal for two decades

Former army chief Rick Burr was lucky enough to call the Queen his pen pal for more than 20 years, ­exchanging handwritten letters with her up until her recent death.

Former army chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr. Picture NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Former army chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr was lucky enough to call the Queen his pen pal for more than 20 years, ­exchanging handwritten letters with her up until her recent death.

He first met the Queen in 2000 when he spent a month working for her as an equerry.

He was by her side at all times while she was in public, helping with programming and logistics.

But their relationship would endure for many years, with General Burr visiting the Queen on multiple occasions in ­Canberra at her request.

“She always wanted to stay interested and engaged with me,” he told The Australian. “She always cared about the people who supported her. She would write, and I would write back to her, handwritten letters for many years.”

Reflecting on her character on the sidelines of the official mourning ceremony, General Burr said she had an ­impeccable memory, and often recalled facts about obscure ­places she had visited over the years.

“It was just so impressive how engaging she was with local communities, local people, and she had a fascinating memory,” he told The Australian.

“She remembered all the ­details because she’s been out here so many times, she would recall the finer details of who she has met on different trips and the interesting facts about each place.”

General Burr was alongside a number of dignitaries, MPs, military personnel, diplomats and members of the public who gathered in Parliament House’s Great Hall to pay their respects to the Queen on Thursday.

Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami reflected on how the Queen made the effort to speak with him at an engagement at Buckingham Palace 10 years ago.

“The way she addressed all the questions, with robustness, intellectual curiosity and her general warmth,” he said. “And a great deal of humour and wit.

“She was very well briefed, she knew a great deal and had a great amount of interest in what’s going on between the UK and Japan.”

UK-born citizen Charlotte Nattey, whose Australian husband also served as an equerry in 1970, remembered the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Pouring with rain, Ms Nattey recalled how the London streets filled with puddles of white water after the ­sailor’s uniforms had run after being cleaned with Blanco, a powder used to whiten leather equipment.

“Regent St was lined by sailors, and the Blanco had ran all down their uniforms,” she said. “They were standing in a puddle of white ... and had a running mark, all the way down their backs. They had been standing for hours.”

Pope Francis’s ambassador to Australia, Archbishop Charles Balvo, said the Queen was a “rock” and an enduring feature in the lives of all.

“It’s very hard to imagine that she’s not really there,” he said.