“It was like meeting your granny, she was a lovely lady to talk to”

With the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday last, many warm memories of her historic 2011 visit to this country have been recalled fondly by those who had the honour of meeting her.

A local man very much in spotlight at the time was Jeremy Stanley, who was then the Chairman of the Master Farriers Association, and an examiner at the farrier school in The National Stud in Kildare, one of the few stops on her tour.

On the day, the association had a demonstration area and a nervous Jeremy was tasked with taking the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on a walkabout.

“I was in the lucky or unlucky position that we needed someone to meet the queen and walk her through our little section of the demonstration area so I got a push on the back – 'you'll do that' – so I was told to do that,” Jeremy quipped this week as he reflected on the visit all of eleven years ago now.

“I had to introduce some Army Colonel to her and to this day I can't remember who it was. I had to introduce him and there were certain letters and certain things I had to introduce him as and that was on my mind. There was a politician next in line and I couldn't for the life of me remember his name,” he joked, recalling a big group of them “waiting in line in our best bib and tucker” full of nerves.

“It was really like meeting your granny, she was a lovely lady to talk to and she was really good at her job. She was very comfortable when you were talking to her, put you at your ease and she could make conversation and then continue on her way,” said Jeremy, who reckoned he was about eleven minutes in her company on the day which was quite surreal. He wondered about some of the questions she asked about his occupation and the horses, thinking to himself she must know the answers, but now he reckoned that it was all about putting people at ease and striking up polite conversation.

Funnily enough, of all the things the farrier has done, he doesn't put it up there as special, but other people do.

“If somebody googles my name it is one of the first thing that shows up. I've met other people through the years and they've said, 'oh, I googled you to see who you were, and oh, you met the queen'. It's become a talking point and for that reason it's very interesting to see other people's reactions from all over the world.”

He recalled having to turn off his phone for the visit, and when he turned it back on there were a huge number of messages saying he was on television. “We had a bit of fame for a few days,” he laughed, adding that there was plenty of excitement in his family at the time who were just over the moon about his part in such a historic occasion.

Then based in Ireland, a lot has changed for Jeremy since the visit. He now spends most of his time in Germany, working for Paul Schockemöhle, one of the world's most famous breeders of sports horses, a former rider who owns around 8,000 horses and has been involved in umpteen Olympic Games in the showjumping arena.

“Last year I got to go the Olympic Games (with the Japan team). For me, it's been very good to work for that company. It opens a lot of doors on the continent,” Jeremy told the Westmeath Independent, adding he is also lucky to have his daughter Lucia, a vet, working alongside him in the massive operation.

His wife Arlene commutes between Glasson and Germany, and he travels home when he can. “We've a strange life,” Jeremy joked, but he loves it, especially the freedom to travel to other countries so easily from Germany.

“He's (Paul Schockemöhle) done 14 Olympic Games. He was a rider originally now a trainer and a breeder. He is one of the world's largest breeders of sport horses, it's all showjumpers that I deal with it. It's a really huge operation and that's why I work out here so much. In horse circles when you mention that name he's world famous,” added Jeremy, who explained they are currently training two teams - Japan and Hungary - in a bid to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics and he hopes to be part of the operation if they do.