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Kiwi in Windsor shares fond memories of Duke of Edinburgh

Jill and Vicki Symon.

As Britain, the Commonwealth and the world bid farewell to the Duke of Edinburgh a Kiwi share’s her fond memories of meeting the Duke.

Vicki Symon, a midwife and works part-time at a Rape & Abuse Support centre, moved from New Plymouth to London in 1997 and is living nearby Windsor.

In 2015, Vicki’s mother Jill, a confessed a royalist, visited her daughter from New Zealand on Christmas Day.

"We decided to take her to Sandringham for Christmas at the spare of the moment not expecting to see anything, we went up to watch the Royals go in and out of church’ she told TVNZ.

"All my life mum’s watched that every Christmas and the Queen’s speech."

A cold and wet English day, Vicki was worried her mother wouldn’t be able to stand too long in the crowds so she purchased her mother a £5 wheelchair.

Tomorrow the Queen will bid farewell to her husband of 73 years.

She says an officer spot the duo and guided them to the front.

"We had an amazing view and we stood and watched the Royals go past us.

"It was like watching something on television because it didn’t seem real," she added.

As the Royals came out of the church service the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry came over to say hello but it was Prince Philip who left a lasting impression.

Jill Symon and daughter Vicki Symon meeting Prince Harry.

"Once he had taken the Queen to her car, he came along, striding along like a young man very jaunty.

"As he went by mum said Happy Christmas to him and he turned around and looked at mum straight in the face and had this amazing smile so sort of sparkly, friendly and he waved his umbrella in a gesture of friendliness.

"That was one of the most magical memories, it meant so much to my mother, she’s followed the royals her whole life."

The royals encounter even featured in the newspapers across Britain.

"It was unbelievable and wonderful!"

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh will be farewelled at a scaled-down funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle early Sunday morning NZT.

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