Last modified on Fri 30 Apr 2021 06.58 EDT
Once a year, I went to see the Queen with my friend
Helen Smeed. Helen, who has died aged 77 from a heart attack, was a long-time parliamentary researcher and personal assistant in the House of Lords. We would wait across the street from the Sovereign’s Entrance during the state opening of parliament and watch the resplendent horse-drawn carriages arrive. Afterwards, during lunch in the Lords’ canteen, Helen would always show her appreciation to the people who made parliament work, from cooks to policemen. She believed in public service.
Helen and I met when we were neighbours on Buckingham Street, behind the Strand in London, during the 1990s. She rented out her spare room to dancers from the Royal Ballet. She had taken up pilates in 1970, as one of the first students of pilates in the UK, under Alan Herdman, and continued practising throughout her life. She spent many years at the charity Mencap in a number of roles, finally as pers