Queen Elizabeth II's personal approach to people 'moving'

The Queen had a personal approach when meeting people that was "moving", a former Manx politician has said.

Clare Christian met Her Majesty three times on visits to the Isle of Man.

Although the first was a just "formal handshake" in 1972, the pair discussed their love of horses during the Royal Manx Agricultural Show in 1989.

But it was in 2003, when she presided over the open-air Tynwald ceremony, that it became clear how "wonderfully" briefed she was about those she met.

The Queen handed out the trophies at the Royal Manx Agricultural Show in 1989

During the trip, Queen Elizabeth II also officially opened the new Southlands residential home in Rushen, when Mrs Christian was health minister.

She said, as the monarch was about to move on, she paused to ask: "How is your father?"

Mrs Christian said that was "particularly moving" because her father, former President of Tynwald Sir Charles Kerruish, was "quite ill in hospital" at the time.

"She had met him, of course, on a number of occasions, so it was very special really that she took the trouble to mention that while she was there on a formal occasion," she added.

Claire Christian (left) lit a beacon on Douglas Head to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

And Mrs Christian's association with the Queen continued in June this year when, as the then president of Girlguiding on the island, she lit a beacon to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

The monarch herself had been a guide in the Buckingham Palace company as a young girl and patron of organisation since her coronation.

Mrs Christian said the monarch's duty, faith and service to others was also embodied in the spirit of guiding.

"She is the most wonderful example of all those things," she added.

Reflecting on her meetings with the Queen, she said she was "very warm and very open" and spoke to those she met "as though she knows you".

Watch: Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state

What time is the Queen's funeral? And other questions

What next? A day-by-day guide from now to the funeral