'All right, Liz?': Coventry soldier recalls his Queen faux pas

Glyn Sherman met the Queen during a birthday parade in 1984

A former soldier has recalled the Queen's grace when she stepped in to spare him from a telling off after addressing her as Liz.

Glyn Sherman, from Coventry, was serving in the Royal Horse Artillery in 1984 when as a guard of honour he met the Queen at a birthday parade.

"When she came along I said 'all right, Liz'?

"The top brass went to come down and she put her hand up to stop them, so I was lucky."

He said her death had left him "heartbroken".

"I don't look at her as being Her Majesty," Mr Sherman, known as Taffy, said. "We call her our boss."

A flag outside his home is flying at half mast.

The ex-serviceman said he would give his right arm to return to the Army

Mr Sherman said he had "felt bad" after the informal address of nearly 40 years ago, but said "I had to explain to her that I've got a daughter called Elizabeth and it just came out like that".

He explained: "She turned around and said 'I like to be unofficial sometimes' - it was brilliant."

The memory would "never go out of me", he said.

Mr Sherman volunteers for the Royal British Legion

Mr Sherman volunteers as a deputy poppy organiser in Coventry city centre, and has been commended with the Queen's Award for voluntary service.

On Monday, Mr Sherman said he planned to watch the Queen's funeral on TV and observe a two-minute silence before having a glass of whiskey to toast the late monarch.

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