IF there’s one thing guaranteed to round off your visit to Buckingham Palace it’s to meet the Queen - even if it wasn’t part of the Royal plan!

Co-founder and chairman of Monmouth Aid, Dr Richard ’Dick’ McPherson, his wife Helen and daughter Anna, were guests last week (21st May) at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party where, along with 7,000 others, they enjoyed tea and music played by two bands on a beautiful sunny afternoon in the palace grounds.

"I feel very lucky to represent the charity and everyone who has worked so hard over the past thirty years for Monmouth Aid," said Dick afterwards.

"We had a lovely day and, by chance when leaving, ended up in a perfect position to meet the Queen. I wondered if she’d recognise me from her inspection of me and other cadets many years ago at Dartmouth - but I don’t think she did!".

The brief encounter, however, was totally unscheduled as Dick’s daughter Anna explained.

The Queen had been joined at the garden party by numerous members of the royal family including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex.

"We’d enjoyed a lovely tea and a stroll around the grounds and were thinking of leaving as my dad by this stage was feeling really tired and needed to resort to his wheelchair," said Anna.

"This coincided with the moment when the Royal party were leaving too and we found ourselves, quite unexpectedly, ushered into a line-up of about fifty people to meet them.

"They made their way along the walkway, some heading for their waiting cars, others going back into the Palace and we were right there - in prime position.

"The Queen smiled at dad and several other members of the Royal family stopped to talk to the lady and her guide dog standing next to us. It was a perfect end to the day!"

Dick McPherson co-founded Monmouth Aid in 1986 in response to the Ethiopian famine.  

Since then the charity has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help create a sustainable future for deprived regions in Ethiopia and supported schools in their construction and expansion.

The work is done by the international charity Action Aid who act as their agents and their representatives have visited the project every few years.

Dick’s services to education and charity via Monmouth Aid were recognised in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list with a British Empire Medal, but he is always keen to emphasise the role played by others and in particular the support he has received from his wife Helen.

The charity’s first projects were in the district of Waka in southern Ethiopia, where the development plan included clean water projects, basic health care, soil conservation, crop improvement and providing a primary school in every village.

By 2004 the community was self-sufficient so Monmouth Aid moved to help the nearby Kemba district. Soon after this second project started a serious drought affected the area and Monmouth Aid raised enough money to dig wells and provide clean drinking water for 17,000 people.

Over the years the charity has also raised money for the construction of four new schools in the Kemba area, renovated two others and expanded one more.

It organises several major fundraising events each year and also has a runner in the London Marathon. Dick himself has competed in the event twice - the second time at the age of 68.