'I met the Queen while caked in mud but she didn't bat an eyelid'

But for one man working at the Sandringham estate, it came while caked in mud with a ripped crotch and having not showered in days.

Carl Blackburn was felling trees in woodlands at the royal residence in the mid-1990s when Her Majesty pulled up in her Range Rover.

Queen Elizabeth II driving herself in a Land Rover Defender on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Photo: PA Wire/Nick Ansell (Image: PA Media)

"I had been subcontracted by a timber merchants and we had been staying in a tired, old caravan with no shower for about a week.

"It had been a very wet few days so the woodland had become a muddy quagmire.

"At mid-morning a Range Rover drove into where we were working so we walked over to see who it was.

"A massive bloke got out the car, introduced himself as 'Major Major' and asked to have a chat, then a lady wearing a head scarf stepped out.

"She then spoke with us for about 20 minutes, draining us of information about the work we were doing.

Mr Blackburn met the Queen while working on the Sandringham Estate in the mid-90s (Image: Archant)

"She was fascinated and was like a sponge, soaking up everything we said.

"We knew we were speaking with the Queen but I was more nervous about being able to answer all her detailed questions than the fact we were speaking with Her Majesty.

"She didn't bat an eyelid at the state we were in, we must have stunk.

"After she left we went very quiet and said, 'did that actually happen?"'

Carl Blackburn met the Queen in his mid-30s while working at Sandringham (Image: Carl Blackburn)

Mr Blackburn, 57, now lives in Saxmundham, Suffolk, where he works for his son's company as a tree surgeon.

News of the death of the Queen brought the memory of meeting her flooding back.

"When I heard the news I felt shocked and it all came back.

The Queen arrives at King's Lynn train station, leaving Norfolk after her stay at Sandringham. Picture: Matthew Usher. (Image: © ARCHANT NORFOLK 2016)

"Later that evening when it had started to get dark a Land Rover with the registration ER2 pulled up.

"The Queen, who was driving, hopped out and asked if we had found a pair of gloves.

"She said they were a gift from her husband and that 'there would be hell to pay if I go back without them.'

"We looked together but there was no hope as it was so muddy and getting dark.

"Unable to find them, she said 'oh well, I suppose I'd better go face the music' and then left.

"I thought it was so sweet that despite being able to have as many pairs of gloves as she would have wanted, these were special to her.

"It was such a surreal moment."