The Queen and I

On 9th September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest reigning monarch: surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria's record of 63 years and seven months.

To mark the occasion, 5 live hears from some of the people who have met the Queen during her reign so far.

Just three weeks after Elizabeth became Queen, Bill Speakman went to Buckingham Palace to be awarded the Victoria Cross, in the first Investiture of the Queen's reign.

Bill, now 91, received the VC for holding off a wave of attacks in the Korean War. He told Peter Allen what he remembers of meeting the Queen that day.

“I think she was a bit shy and I was a bit shy - she asked me how I was and this and that… then she pinned the medal,” he said.

Hilda Price was born on the same day as the Queen on April 21, 1926.

She attended a joint 80th birthday lunch with her at Buckingham Palace.

"We had a lovely luncheon with her", Hilda said.

Darren McGrady became the chef in the Royal Kitchen at Buckingham Palace in 1982, and cooked on a daily basis for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and their guests for 11 years.

His favourite memory was cooking pancakes in front of the Queen (pictured below, left) and her sister Princess Margaret (pictured, right), on Christmas at Sandringham.

Blue Cross vet Mark Bossley met the Queen when she opened the veterinary hospital he now works at in 2001.

He says she spent “a lot of time” in the hospital, visiting all the floors, theatres and kennel areas.

“When she came in the door it was like seeing someone you know, somebody familiar, almost a member of the family because you see her so much on TV,” he said.

Mark said he had to reassure Her Majesty however, when she became “concerned” a collie’s eye condition could be caught by her corgis.

“She seemed quite relieved after that,” he said. “But it was very pleasant to meet her.”