Missed her by this much

I was sitting in Kensington Gardens this morning reading a new novel by Haruki Murakami. The usual assortment of joggers and dog walkers were going by. I had seen one nice space before I sat at my bench that faced a nice, green field, but chose to stay where I was. It started raining a little bit, so I decided to head for a nearby covered pavilion. That's when I saw the large, deep red helicopter in the green space. There were quite a few people standing at the fence watching it. That's when I remembered that Priscilla (the dotty tour lady) said that the Queen went everywhere in a red helicopter. I went over there, but the doors were already closed, and it was lifting off. I asked someone standing there who was in the helicopter, and he quite matter-of-factly said, "Why, it's the Queen." That's when I noticed the policemen with machine guns. The helicopter lifted off, people waved at it, and it sped away. I was about 50 yards away from the Queen. If I had sat on the bench I first noticed, I would have seen her walk to the helicopter. Darn. Yes, I know I'm an American, but it would still have been exciting to see the Queen that close-up.