#got a bit emotional there

[littlemuoi]

My 30 years protecting the Queen: dry humour, heartfelt gifts and travelling the world by Hugo Daniel (September 17th 2022)

Taking in the beauty of a misty Scottish moor amid the bustle of a Balmoral grouse shoot, the royal protection officer Dick Griffin turned to check on his charge, the Queen, only to get the shock of his life.

It was September 1995 and, at first glance, the then 69-year-old monarch had disappeared. As he searched anxiously through the thick fog, he finally caught sight of her — lying flat on the ground, a dead grouse beside her.

“Because it was so foggy we couldn’t see [that the grouse had] hit her in the chest,” Griffin said. “You can imagine the velocity of something like that falling down to the ground — it just flattened her completely. So I had to get her up and discreetly brush all the feathers and plumes away from her. She was shaken up and badly bruised.”

The equerry who had shot the bird was understandably embarrassed. “But then [they] saw the funny side of it, because the Queen saw the funny side of it. She said, ‘What an odd thing to happen’.”

Griffin, 71, shared his memories of more than 30 years as a protection officer for the royal family over a cup of coffee in a Pret a Manger near Buckingham Palace. His son, Gareth, 42, is a uniformed firearms officer and was on duty at the palace when the Queen’s coffin arrived there on Tuesday evening.

Since her death, a news clip from the Platinum Jubilee has re-emerged in which Griffin revealed how, during a walk on the Balmoral estate, the Queen posed for a photo with two American tourists who did not recognise her.

He said he was glad the story had been a “comfort” to people, with many reposting it and calling it their “favourite Queen story”. He described her as a “remarkable, caring, wonderful person”.

Griffin, who had been due to have lunch with the Queen next month, will attend the smaller, more personal committal service at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel tomorrow after the funeral at Westminster Abbey. He says all seven police officers who worked for the monarch have been invited.

Griffin now gives talks about his career to raise money for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance.

His three decades with the royals began in 1982 as part of a team that reorganised palace security after Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom. After that, he was assigned to act as Prince Edward’s protection officer at Cambridge University from 1983 to 1986. He worked on assignment for Prince Philip for 13 years until 1999 and then for the Queen until he retired in 2013.

He travelled with the Queen and Prince Philip to 161 countries. “Often you were in the car with them, just chatting away. She would ask about my family and all my marathon running. Once I went to South Africa to do the Comrades marathon, which is 55 miles, and you had a chip on your shoe so people could follow you at home. She got one of her footmen in front of a computer for ten hours to follow me, to see how I was getting on. The footman wasn’t too impressed.”

When Griffin’s running club in Bromley, southeast London, held a party to celebrate his 100th marathon, the Queen marked the occasion with a letter, showing her wry sense of humour. In it, she jokes: “We are delighted that your employers allow you sufficient time to train for, and take part in, such events.”

At his first meeting with the Queen and Prince Philip in 1983 at Windsor Castle, a week before he went to Cambridge with Edward, the couple were keen to learn about the background of the man who would be guarding their youngest child.

“We were sitting on lovely chairs and the staff were giving us coffee and the Queen said to me, ‘Can you tell Philip and me what you used to do before you came to royalty protection?’

“It was probably a question I’d prefer they’d not asked, because my job for the past six years had been [at Scotland Yard’s obscene publications branch policing] prostitution, the brothels, the sex shops and pornographic cinemas.

“The Queen said, ‘Good gracious, Mr Griffin. What on earth does Edward need a police officer with your qualifications for?’ and, before I could answer, Prince Philip said, ‘I don’t know. But they can have some wonderful parties at Cambridge.’

“That was my first experience of Prince Philip and his one-liners.”

The next time Griffin met the Queen, he remembers her sitting on the floor of the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle to watch a private performance of a play that Edward and friends had originally performed at Cambridge, in which Griffin had a cameo role.

The roof was leaking. “Water was landing on top of the Queen’s head. She was all dressed up, having just come from dinner. Several members of the household offered her a seat, but she said ‘that’s not necessary’ and sat on the floor in the aisle and put a programme over her head to keep dry.

“That was one of my first impressions of the Queen, and I just thought, ‘What an amazing lady.’”

Griffin’s three-decade career as protection officer spanned security threats ranging from the IRA to Isis.

“Of course with Islamic terrorism and suicide bombers, we had to really ramp things up,” he said. “But nothing fazed the Queen and Prince Philip. We’d try to encourage them sometimes not to be so open on walkabouts, but nothing would change her.”

He was in the car with the Queen on the day two months after 9/11 when an American Airlines flight crashed in Queens, New York. It would turn out to be an accident, but there were fears at first that it was terrorism-related.

“I was bringing the Queen back from Windsor Castle and my mobile phone rang and it was my son. I spoke to Gareth and he said there might be another terrorist attack.

“I told the Queen, and then, five minutes later, Tony Blair rings up to brief the Queen, and I always remember her saying, ‘Yes, prime minister, I know. My policeman’s son has just phoned to tell me.’”

In 2005 Griffin’s first grandchild, Joshua, was born and the Queen insisted on meeting him.

“She said to me in the car one day, ‘For the last nine months, all you’ve talked about is how excited you are about being a grandfather, and now your grandson has been born, you haven’t even bothered to introduce me.’ So I had to arrange a date and time so the Queen could have a cuddle. She was thrilled.”

He saw her love for her own grandchildren, too. For Christmas in 2010, Griffin and the other protection officers decided to give the Queen a wind-up clockwork duck that played music and laid an egg every 30 seconds, something they had found at a flea market on a recent state visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“My wife wrapped it up all beautifully with ribbons and gave it to the equerry to present it to the Queen on Christmas Day. We got this beautiful letter from the Queen saying how much she enjoyed it and Edward’s son, James, had so much fun playing with it.”

In the letter, the Queen wrote: “To the PPOs, many thanks for the unusual Christmas present from you all. It certainly livened things up and little James’s face was a picture when the duck laid her eggs! Thanks for making us laugh.”

When Griffin retired, in 2013, the Queen gave him the best gift of all. She had paid for him to have a retirement party in the state department at the palace, with 200 guests, and at eight o’clock she joined the party, with Prince Philip and the Earl of Wessex.

“That was the biggest present she could give me,” he said.

[nadnaindecisa]

I see all the non Brazilian fans talking about the ccs who literally were my childhood and i get so emotional like

It feels like yesterday when i was watching Pac and Mike go into adventures at this big minecraft lab

Or when i was dying laughing because of how hysterical Cellbits screams were, and Felps amazing comedic timing

I never tought i’d see the ccs who were a big part of my childhood interact with the ccs i���ve got into recently

And the fans who probably don’t understand anything they’re saying be so invested in them and their lore

Words can’t express how much i love the qsmp for bringing so many cultures together

[hinamie]

mentor

[hansoeii]

stede bunnet

[meloartist]

"i simply do not see it. i am looking away"

[critterbitter]

It’s everybody’s favorite lantern! Ingo's partner pokemon's very chaos incorporated. Inspired by the very enthusiastic asks in my inbox, which I’ll be responding to under this cut ;0 Wanna see more? Check out this submas masterlist.

@euos-the-cat AAA thank you! I took one look at that waxy gremlin and thought "huh. I can do something with this."

@eventhetiniestbugs Yo. YO. HEADCANNON ACCEPTED. Litwick really is sort of a beatrice, isn't she? Being Ingo (and in part, Emmet's) unwilling guide. Reluctant friend. Best found family.

@answrs Thanks!!! I love sneasler and I need to draw her more. It wasn't on purpose, but it seems I've accidentally wrote myself into a Sort Of chronological posting (oops!) But sneasler WILL appear later (hopefully BEFORE my hyperfixation fizzles out haha)

@raynavan AhHEhEHEHEH. I usually don't dabble with too much angst, but yeah. On the plus side, uh, more chandelure emmet interactions! On the down side, well.

@blueisquitetired You learn to like rice. It's a staple in your diet, and while you may think its bland and boring, it becomes something you can always rely on during meal time when things get dicey. Or, well. It was.

@moothebloo ...DEFINITELY SAVING THAT FOR LATER. CHANDELURE ANGRY SHARPIE BROWS LETS GOO. (Idk if you're into rottmnt, but uh that's some donnie behaviors that I definitely approve of.)

@gender-nuteral-nut-boy First of all, amazing user name. you get all the gender. second of all (points at picture) she's doing finnee! She's doing So Great. Don't Worry About It. ((She has emmet, and later the gear station, and even later maybe even elesa. But Ingo's Hers, and that's a wound that can't be easily staunched.)) @ghostlykryptonitenight Ah,, you see, your first mistake is thinking she'll Remember. : )

Head cannon: ghost pokemon are not a direct reincarnation of a dead soul, and are more like… say, the mold that grows from a coffee mug left out for too long. But they have fragments of memories and dreams of cherished ones. Chandelure knows Ingo’s alive thanks to their bond. She vaguely knows her propagator probably knew Ingo’s identical great uncle or something. But those pieces don’t really connect until Emmet’s research, and she’s tired and faded and the simple act of trying hurts.

(She would leap through space and time for ingo. Chandelure and Emmet would do anything to get their muppet back, even if it means to salt the earth and unearth gods.)

[captin-azoth]

“It’s you!”

“Despite everything, it’s still you!”

[an-established-butt-dent]

Solas and Inquisitor Lavellan

[cubbihue]

Have there been times the Turner parents have suspected something but shrugged it off?

They have never suspected Timmy Turner of anything! Despite often expressing regret or disappointment, they still very much love their son! And all the benefits he brings them!!

The Turners are a well established family in the neighborhood. It wouldn't bode them well to go around casting doubt against their own son. It'd affect their reputation terribly!

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[vynnyal]

I've been having a delightful time stumbling over my emojis being used in random servers, so here's more

[perilegs]

I'm thinking about the Dalish conversation with Zevran and how he tells of the circumstance of his birth in the most matter of fact way and calls it the oldest tale in the book. If the Warden says it was horrible, Zevran plays it off with a nonchalant "Is it?" and says it's normal, especially for the boys he grew up with. But! He approves of you acknowledging that his past has been horrible to him. He keeps diminishing his own problems and trauma, and it's interesting because there are so many little aspects of him that show themselves in that tiny bit of dialogue.

Zevran, as a crow, is trained in the art of seduction and it has been one of the reasons he's still alive to this day. He knows it's typically unsexy to lament on how terribly your past has been affecting you. If you tell Zevran you're sorry for him, he immediately turns the conversation into complimenting the Warden.

It can be read as a test of character if one so chooses. Obviously Zevran isn't going to show a weak point to a person he just met, but, he is telling about himself, on a deeper level, and it's up to the Warden on how they react. Also, It's a good way to scope intentions and such. Zevran is still sharing information on himself, but on his terms. He chooses to tell the Warden about his childhood when all they asked was a question about the Dalish. And he sets a neutral tone to it.

Zevran's childhood is not a pleasant subject and he distances himself from it. It's far easier for him to talk about it that way, and it doesn't force him to process what he experienced and how it was horrible.

But he does enjoy someone, an outsider, reaffirming that what he went through was horrible, and it wasn't okay just because others have gone through the same and worse. Was there a moment in his past, where he even mildly suggested his childhood might have been less than ideal, and gotten back the reaction that it's no different from his peers? Or that he is lucky to have been bought by the crows?

"My first victim, as it were." Is that what the crows said to him? How they reassured Zevran time and time again how he was meant to be an assassin, it has been so since his birth.

[dreamsy990]

you know i used to think it was weird how sora and roxas have such different personalities for supposedly being 'the same person' but after playing a few games i sort of realized that they do have similar personalities, because roxas acts how sora does when he's under extreme stress.

compare roxas to sora in, say, kh1. that's where a lot of peoples idea of sora's personality comes from. sora is generally very upbeat and optimistic in that game. not very similar to roxas, right?

but let's switch the game and talk about a game where sora is ABSOLUTELY GOING THROUGH IT. chain of memories.

sora's resting state is melancholy in com. he only ever cheers up in short bursts, usually when he's joking around with friends. just like roxas.

he's quick to anger, and tends to lash out at the organization members. best example of this is when larxene makes him 'remember' namine, and he swings at her repeatedly, even after she's gone. he only stops when jiminy is able to snap him out of it.

you know what scene that resembles?

sora, while a bit more on the angry side and less sad, continues to act like this in kh2 when he's in stressful situations. (he also has a tendancy to insult people which, while it's not very related to the point, is very funny and sora saying 'gonna cry?' to xigbar is great.) i cant comment any further than that about kh2 off the top of my head.

so, roxas acts like sora does when he's stressed, right? but why is roxas always acting like that? to which i say, he isnt!

he only ever acts like that when he's also in fucked up and stressful situations, which happens to be a CONSTANT in his life. but when he's hanging out with axel and xion, a decidedly NOT stressful situation, he's a lot more like sora. he's teasing his friends and insulting his coworkers and joking around and acting like a normal kid. not really important, but unless i misremembered some sora lines which is VERY possible, both roxas and sora respond to friendly insults with "oh thanks!" a lot. just a funny little detail that felt relevant.

the biggest differences between roxas and sora boil down to environment and... i dont know how to put it besides volume? roxas is very quiet and tends to keep most of his thoughts to himself, while sora is very loud and expressive in comparison.

there is one other huge difference i noticed, which is less character based and more story. sora wanted to get off destiny islands and explore with his friends, but roxas just wanted routine. sora wants adventure, and roxas wants things to stay the same, for days where he gets off work and eats ice cream with his friends to last forever, to keep having conversations about nothing and watching the sunset. roxas wants normalcy, sora wants excitement. it's just interesting seeing their contrast.

not sure if this is very well said or anything i just wanted to talk about my boys

[ba1laur]

the chimera

[wasyago]

so, would you?

nothing important under the cut, you don't need to look haha

[oniliae]

if ithink abt them toomuch I throew up . 💞💗💓 ough. ft tim cameo ily tim

[starlitmeadows]

i met a slugpup in Rubicon during my second Saint playthrough

i don't have a -slightest- idea how this is possible but i think we were both equally horrified by the fact

named him Surv because how the fuck did you get here little man you're not supposed to be here