Follow for more talkers

Pilot pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II with flight path

"To express my gratitude to the Queen."

Avatar photo

Published

on
(ADSB Exchange via SWNS)

By Izzy Hawksworth via SWNS

A pilot has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II by tracing the Royal cipher (monogram) on the flight path over Sandringham Castle.

Jamie Everett, 56, flew over the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England and traced 'ER' with the numerals II between in the skies.

He was in the air at the same time as the Queen's coffin was being brought from Edinburgh, Scotland to London, England.

The married-dad-of-three flew the plane, while his two sons Alexander, 22, and Horatio, 18, navigated the route alongside him.

Jamie decided to pay tribute to the Queen as he classes himself "very much as a royalist."

He said: "I knew I wanted to pay tribute.

"I was going to stand by the railway line if the coffin was going to come down by train.

"Because they decided not to do that, I thought it would be really fitting to do something in the air, while the Queen was in the air.

"I knew that I could make a pattern, so I came up with the idea of doing the cypher basically."

Official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Released on 7 February 2012 to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. (Wikimedia Commons)

The businessman, who has been flying for 39 years, flew a Cirrus SR22 plane - which has a top speed of 200mph.

Around 100 people tracked the 90-minute flight, and Jamie didn't know that people were watching him until they came back down to the ground.

He said: "I did it as a personal tribute to the Queen, so I was just doing it for me really, to express my gratitude to the Queen.

"I was a bit surprised to find out. I didn't find out until the next day actually.

"The next day I was contacted by a few people, but at the time I had no idea people were watching it happen."

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers