My Brief Encounter with Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge

Last month I had the opportunity to cover the Royal Tour to Canada for the Calgary Beacon. I was fortunate to have been accredited since I missed the application date by a full two-weeks, but "Genevieve" in Ottawa made it happen!

Going into the events I did not know what to expect, all I knew was that there would be around 1200 journalists and photographers.

Overall it was a great experience; chaotic at times, charming at others. Understandably, no media got close enough to meet or shake the hand of the Prince or Kate, and if you could see how vicious some reporters can be you'd understand why.

I did have a brief encounter, however. As the couple were leaving their reception at the BMO Centre, the remaining photographers swarmed them. The couple entered their black Lincoln, and began driving away, windows rolled up but smiling and waving nonetheless. My equipment was not good enough for me to bother trying to get a shot of them leaving with the black, tinted windows rolled up, so I decided to take a different approach. As they were driving by, I moved the camera from my eye, smiled a big smile, and waved to Kate. She looked, and then did a double take. It must have been a funny sight! A crowd of middle-aged men, their faces lost in their lenses, and then me -- a careless student reporter, camera to the side with a big grin, waving. And then she smiled right at me!

It's not much of a Royal encounter, but it was amusing for me and I'd like to think Kate found it amusing as well.