Chapter 33

2006 was a mammoth year in my life. It was the year of my liberation, the year of the Queen’s eightieth birthday and the year when everyone was talking about the FIFA World Cup. For me it was a year of new life but the greatest of all it was the year I developed my relationship with Kate.

It was a big day in London on the Queen’s eightieth birthday. Kate and I walked along the streets which were already lined with people waving flags. As we turned the corner into Trafalgar Square, a beggar sat tucked in a doorway trying to avoid being squashed by the crowds. I stepped over and put some money in his dirty cap and an excited smile lit up his face.

“God Bless you sir,” he said looking up at me with gratitude in his eyes and I think I saw a tear running down the aged, withered face. There was an air of excitement around. Everyone had looked forward to this day. It was a gigantic media event. Reporters and cameramen were everywhere on high pedestals, racing in front of the crowd. The aircraft burst over the grey water and turned round going east, then back again, circling around the city centre. We had arrived in front of Buckingham Palace where the Queen watched from the balcony. People tried to climb trees or on top of fences to get better views. A young woman clutching a little boy by the hand pushed her way in front of us to get a better view. The boy was waving a flag and straining to see the sentries standing motionless in their boxes.

“What an amazing reign!” Kate said. “She witnessed the first space missions, a man walking on the moon,” Kate said. “She lived through the war years and periods of other disasters both at home and abroad. The Berlin Wall has been built and razed to the ground all in her lifetime.”

It was a great day for the Queen but for me too it was a day to remember as we walked back hand in hand to Waterloo station and as Kate kissed me goodnight, my happiness knew no bounds.