4D Summit 2002 - HRH Queen Elizabeth II

HRH Queen Elizabeth II visited Vancouver during her Golden Jubilee visit to Canada. She stayed in the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, where the 4D Summit was being held. On her final morning, we gathered to see her depart the hotel on October 8, 2002.

	The crowd gathered in the lobby of the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel an hour before the Queen is scheduled to leave.
	Assorted security also gathered, including Canadian Mounties, local police, hotel security and the Queen's own security service.
	Waiting patiently in the lobby were Ken, Mark, Braden ...
	... Jeff and Paul. (Not pictured: Debbie, your humble narrator and photographer.) Paul was standing on a marble column base, which will be important later in this story.
	A sizeable crowd developed in front of the hotel, too, including down the street and on the balconies of nearby buildings. I have no idea why the guy in the middle was dressed as a jester, but apparently it was his only outfit, as he was wearning it the day before as well.
	The Queen's ladies-in-waiting were sharply dressed, wouldn't you agree?
	Finally! Here she is! These photos were taken by Paul, as too many people had pushed in front of me for me to get a decent shot. (See above for Paul's excellent vantage point on a marble pillar.)
	Paul scored a terrific shot with my camera as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip walked by.
	After they left the lobby, I managed to get this shot of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip getting into their car as the hotel staff applauded.

Postscript: During our absence, our devoted Orchard Software development staff checked the Royal Visit website, looking for glimpses of Jeff and me. Amazingly enough, they just happened to run across photos of us with the Queen. Check them out:

Postscript 2: I've also seen Queen Silvia of Sweden in person (Göteborg, 1996). It seems that I bump into royalty quite often!