Wrenched from the clutches of Envelope Filter, who has it coming for tagging me with the five things or three eateries or thinking random or eight blogger meme, I can’t remember which it is. But one or more of them, surely.
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raincoaster 
Her Grace the Marchioness de WitchHampton under Buzzard de la Zouche
Your Grace
TALES FROM AN EAGLE’S MIS-SPENT YOUTH in the early 1990’s
Sign Language is a very expressive Language with its own syntax, grammar and word-order – it can be very moving
Some years ago, the most Junior Eagle was then a reasonable height … or as you North-Amerikans would so crudely but appositely express it – a reasonable shortness, several feet below his (now, comparatively) short Father
This Junior Eagle did not then go round South America talking Spanish and watching La Plata football matches …. and climbing Mountains …. and (schockingly) eating Englisch Schokolade at every opportunity with his fellow-Studenten …. and looking down from a great tallness on his Father
Well, some years ago, Brenda [Private Eye’s nick-name for Her Majesty] visited a Royal School for the Deaf “somewhere in Inglaterra” (its location for the moment eludes the Adler-Abwehr)
It was so impressive that this elderly Lady took so much trouble to talk to so many Children, lining the footpath into the School, including the (then) small Junior Eagle, in his best school-blazer
I wonder how many women with Brenda’s wealth would have got up at such an ungodly hour & travelled in the Royal Train for several hours, in order to take so much trouble over so many Young Children, accompanied by the incongruous sight of a Lady-in-Waiting staggering a few respectful paces behind her Majesty under a weight of flower-bouquets…..
Her Majesty disappeared into the School Assembly Room, wherein there could be seen the incongruous sights (to a former republican) of :
1. Brenda sitting on a large Chair (serving the function of a throne) several feet above mere mortals – but in fairness to Her Majesty, she had had no say in the Chair’s height & design
and
2. the Deaf College Students performing the National Anthem (“God save our Gracious Queen”) to Music, but with Sign Language
The Deaf Students had been practising for weeks ….. Her Majesty’s visit really made their day …. but what came over to this ReIncarnation to one of Cromwell’s Buff-Coated Colonels was :
a. how much sparkle our (now Constitutional) Monarchy can bring into ordinary folks’ lives; and
b. how moving & expressive sign-language can be, especially when (or despite) performing the Britisch National Anthem
During the performance, Brenda was seen maintaining a polite attention with a stiff Royal upper lip – after all, it was late in the morning – Adler-Abwehr calculations suggest that she & Phil the Greek must have got up at or before 6am – she must have been really tired and she then had to rush off to join Phil (an impressively kindly ex-Naval Officer in the last War) in the opening of an expensive New Hospital
…. but apparently, appearances were deceptive
Behind the restrained Royal Exterior, Her Majesty was very moved by the efforts of these marvellous young Students
Alas, this Eagle is too grumpy & intellektuelly inflexible to learn Sign Language — talons and a general grayness seem to exclude learning a language that requires waving about the arms & smiling etc …. but I’m sure that you & many of your Readers would enjoy learning sign language
Surely (with his newly discovered skills as a Thespian) the Young Monsieur Metro would find a fresh audience for his dramatic talents
Perhaps this is a skill that the unfortunate Miss Hilton could profitably acquire, now that she has a few days of leisure to occupy, to her moral improvement at one of California’s leading Educational Institutions
I have the honour to remain your Grace’s obedient servant and
Tot siens
G Eagle
A great story, thanks. I’ve seen Brenda’s effect on people first-hand myself. She came to UBC when I was a student there and beside be were two boys who quite seriously had been up all night trying to decide whether to yell “Give Ireland back to the Irish” or to throw dog turds at her.
Instead…
When she walked by, doing her little wave, they actually tried to hand her some flowers they picked from the garden they were standing in…