Retired teacher recalls a royal lunch with Queen Elizabeth II

A nine-course lunch in 1965 left an indelible mark on the memory of a young teacher from Denver.

Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96, but she left an historical legacy that included a meal with Jacquie Dozier. Though it was just an afternoon in the 70-year reign of Britain's monarch, it profoundly affected Dozier and created a memory to last her lifetime.

Dozier, now retired and living in Wrangell, began her teaching career at the age of 19. She was born in Michigan, made her way to Illinois for a time, and moved to the Denver area when she married her first husband, John Halbert. She taught in Colorado long enough to teach the children of the children she first taught.

During her time in Denver, she was selected to be a part of a teacher exchange program, taking 18 educators from across the United States to teach for a year in the United Kingdom. In exchange, 18 teachers in the U.K. came to the U.S. to teach.

Dozier, then in her late 20s, was assigned to teach in a school on the Isle of Wight, located on the southern edge of Britain in the English Channel. The headmaster, Mr. Taylor, vehemently protested an American teacher being assigned to his school, she said.

Despite Taylor's protestations, Dozier was assigned to his school that had a faculty of six teachers, four of which were women. When Dozier found out she and the other 17 teachers from America would be having lunch with the queen, her British colleagues became very excited. That excitement increased when it was revealed that Dozier had the special honor of presenting Queen Elizabeth II with a bouquet of flowers.

"Consequently ... I was being taught how to curtsy, how to properly bow down and give the flowers to the queen," Dozier said. "They were so pleased and so excited that this was happening."

When the day came to have lunch with the queen and Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon - better known as Queen Mother - Dozier remembers being in awe of Buckingham Palace and feeling the weight of the history behind it.

"We were taken through the gardens and escorted into the palace to meet the queen. We were escorted past the guards (Beefeaters). All of this was most impressive. It isn't a new palace, so it's very historical but very beautiful. It had a lot of armor along the walls as you go in."

The teachers were escorted into the dining room to a long table, with nameplates placed where each would sit. Dozier was in a place of honor just to the left of the queen, who sat at the head of the table. Next to Dozier was Queen Mother, who had visited Denver many years before and loved Colorado.

As Dozier and her colleagues waited for the royalty to arrive, they stood at the table, with servants dressed in black coattails standing behind their seats. The queen and her mother entered shortly after.

Dozier recalls the queen being "very regal and very dignified, very gracious."

At the time, the queen was 39 years old, still somewhat young in her reign. Dozier had no idea at the time she would become the longest reigning monarch in Britain's history.

The queen welcomed the teachers, saying she hoped their year in her domain would be a most pleasant one.

"There was a prayer said and I presented the flowers to the queen," Dozier said. Then, she recalled with a chuckle, "I did somewhat lose my balance curtsying to the queen. I would have been ashamed for my ladies who worked so hard for me. That shows you the honor they had for the queen. But (the queen) did help hold my arm, just sort of reached under the flowers and held onto my arm and steadied me until I regained my balance. Nobody realized that but me. I realized that this probably happened to her quite often and she was aware and ready."

The queen indicated the guests could take their seats. The servants pushed their chairs in as they sat. Both the queen and her mother were delighted that Dozier had been assigned to the Isle of Wight, considered to be a garden spot of Britain. Dozier and Queen Mother spoke for a bit about Colorado and teaching until the next challenge arrived.

"Our silverware went as far as my arms could go in either direction," Dozier said. "I watched the queen for which service to pick up. I'm sure she knew this was happening ... because she would pick up the one from where it was and it was usually far down, and she would sort of hold it so we could see all the way down the table. The first (course) was a little fish. The little fork at the end of the line of silverware was the proper fork for that fish."

Dozier said Queen Mother "twinkled with laughter over the silverware" confusion. And she was impressed with Queen Elizabeth's considerate nature as she "was thinking of all of us and realizing that we Americans are not used to all of this."

As each of the nine courses were served, a different wine was poured with each course. The glasses were filled as quickly as they were consumed. Soon, the meal ended and the queen stood to bid farewell to her departing guests, who were led back out.

"The whole affair was over before you could take it in," Dozier said. "It's one of those enormous experiences that I will certainly never forget."

Dozier does not have a television in her modest apartment on Bennett Street in Wrangell, and didn't hear of the queen's death when it was first broadcast. Instead, her daughter called her, knowing the news would affect her.

"She ended her reign in honor and recognition of the good she had done and in holding England together despite all of these things," Dozier said, becoming a little choked up. "Even all those things, like with Diana, she held her dignity and the people held their love for her."

In her time teaching on the Isle of Wight, the queen's lunch was certainly memorable, but so too was an incident in which she had left the window open overnight in her classroom. She came to work the next morning to find her room filled with seagulls.

"Needless to say, I couldn't have my class come in, so I rushed all these seagulls everywhere I could to get them out the windows," Dozier said, chuckling at the memory. "Of course, seagulls leave messes. Finally, I got everything cleaned up and brought the class in, and went back and by my desk there was one large seagull egg."

Despite Taylor's bristling before Dozier arrived at his school, he had changed his mind about her as she readied to return to the U.S.

"And my headmaster, Mr. Taylor, who had not wanted me at all, told me as I left that I was welcome back anytime I could come," Dozier said.