Recently retired Reverend Keith McKee, accompanied by his wife, Jan, have returned back home to London, Ont., after receiving an invite to meet Her Majesty Queen Camilla at St. James Palace.
Keith, who is a judge for the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition, was requested by Her Majesty to attend the awards ceremony for the competition, which was held at the palace on Nov. 20.
Keith has been volunteering as a judge for the competition since 2017, which saw over 56,000 entries across all 56 Commonwealth nations last year.
“I judged the first year, 150 essays, and I was very good,” Keith said. “I applied to do it the following year, and then it sort of mushroomed from there.”
The competition sees entries from students as old as 18 submitting an essay from one of four topics, with the winners receiving invitations to spend a full week in London, England.
Keith said he received the invitation in September by email to attend the ceremony at the palace, where he and Jan could not pass on the opportunity to travel.
“I said yes. I’m retired, and we agreed to go,” Keith said. “So we called our travel agent and arranged a trip there.”
Keith expressed he was amazed with the palace, which he described as being decorated with several art pieces and nice furniture.
“And you see this incredible room, the same room the King was proclaimed monarch and you just felt like you were watching this on television, but you had to pinch yourself and realize this is real,” he said.
“You are here, you have a programme in your hand and you are following along with the events. It was truly wonderful to see.”
Rev. Keith McKee’s King Charles III Coronation Medal he received for his work with the Royal Commonwealth Society. (Hayden King/XFM News)
“Her Majesty has a great sense of humour so she put us all at ease just immediately,” Keith said. “We were all laughing at a couple of jokes that she made, it was very interesting.
Keith was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his work with the Royal Commonwealth Society.
His wife Jan could not be happier for the recognition he has received.
“I am very, very proud of him,” she said.
“He did well, and when he came back to the hotel afterwards, he was walking on air and telling me about his experiences and it was just lovely.”
Her Majesty serves as the vice-patrol of the Royal Commonwealth Society which organizes the competition, which is the oldest writing contest for young people.
