The Queen recalls working very hard in 1941 for a life saving badge which she thought was very grand
Her Majesty reminisced about achieving the life saving badge as she chatted to members of the Royal Life Saving Society
10 May 2021 • 11:47am
Throughout her long reign, the Queen has amassed an extraordinary collection of priceless jewellery, diamond-encrusted crowns and tiaras.
But as a young girl, she was impressed with something rather more humble, a life saving badge for which she worked “very hard” and which she thought at the time was “very grand.”
Her Majesty, 95, held a video call with members of the Royal Life Saving Society, in which she reminisced about the days during the Second World War when she was taken with her sister, Princess Margaret, to swimming lessons at the Bath Club, a gentleman’s club in Dover Street, Mayfair.
The Queen has shared memories of achieving her own lifesaving qualification aged 14 during a video call with the Royal Life Saving Society - before revealing she didn t realise she was the first in the Commonwealth to do it.
The Society works across 30 Commonwealth nations with the aim of eliminating preventable death by drowning, promoting water safety, and delivering lifesaving and lifeguarding education.
In 1941, as Princess Elizabeth, Her Majesty, became the first young person in the Commonwealth to achieve the Society s Junior Respiration Award, providing an example to young people and helping to establish lifesaving and resuscitation qualifications across the network of nations.