I’ve talked with a lot of people in my 20-plus years as a reporter.
Many of these conversations have taken place in comfortable farm kitchens, sweet or not-so-sweet smelling barns, windy open fields and air-conditioned combine cabs.
Others have been in more formal meeting rooms, convention centres and the halls of the Saskatchewan legislature.
None have made me as tongue-tied as the one that took place May 17 in the Hotel Saskatchewan’s Regency Ballroom.
That’s when Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, asked me about farming.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
Now, reporters often consider themselves too cool to be awed by just about anything or anyone. We are, after all, the cynical, the questioning, the jaded. But this evening we were reduced to wide-eyed children, anticipating something we couldn’t quite define.
The event was a media reception held for reporters covering the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip in honour of Saskatchewan’s centennial.
We were told to stay in “clusters” according to the type of media we represented so that the Queen and the Duke could approach us informally.
I dutifully stood with a group of my local print colleagues, but, as everyone knows, herding journalists is like herding cats. We soon formed a large circle, leaving the couple to face each one of us as if passing through a giant receiving line.
The Queen came my way, smiled when several of us were introduced as locals, and moved along to speak with others.
The Duke came from the other direction. He stopped and asked which media outlet I represented. When I told him I wrote for an agricultural newspaper, we had something in common.
Prince Philip is known for his interest in agricultural methods, conservation and the environment. During our brief conversation, we talked about direct seeding and the types of crops Saskatchewan farmers grow.
Afterward, I hoped I’d said something intelligent but I wasn’t completely sure.
Many of my colleagues had similar experiences and couldn’t quite explain the giddiness they felt in the room or within themselves.
One observed that perhaps it was because reporters are usually observers and recorders of events like this, not the participants.
Another suggested it was the rareness of the event; the Queen does not hold a media reception everywhere she goes.
Even the British press noted the hush in the room when the couple entered.
Perhaps we cynical journalist types can be awestruck after all.
