ATHOUGH her picture appeared in the Portland Observer only last September, Sharon Dixon at first went unrecognised when she visited the office to collect a copy of the paper.

Ms Dixon’s identity only became clear when she explained that in 1970 as a 10 year-old she had been brought up to Hanlon Park from her home in Macarthur to meet the Queen,

The pictures that Observer photographers took on the day of the royal visit were re-published following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and front and centre among them is a much younger Ms Dixon, just a few steps away from the monarch.

“I had a friend call me and say, ‘you’re famous, you’re in the newspaper’, so I went and had a look and there I was,” the Portland local said.

“I was in legacy, I lived in Macarthur and got picked out of a lot of people for it.”

“A car came to pick us up and drive me down with my mother, and some other people, we came down to the football ground and waited out on the grass before they came.

“I gave the Queen a posy of flowers and spoke to the duke and a little bit to the queen as well, but I don’t remember what she said, it was a very long time ago.”

What Ms Dixon can remember is the red and white dress that her mother bought for her brand new on the day, which she still has and keeps stowed away at her sister’s house.