WEST LAFAYETTE — Before becoming the events coordinator and house manager for Westwood, the campus home of the Purdue University president, Anthony Cawdron served the Royal Family.
Cawdron worked as a butler at London Palace and Sutton Place, where he got to meet several members of the Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II.
"[She had] just a wonderful personality and I think [is] really someone that the nation has always looked to," Cawdron said. "For most people in England, she's the only monarch that they've ever really known. To have reigned for 70 years is almost uncanny."
Britian's longest serving monarch died Thursday at 96-years-old.
Cawdron went on to become a restaurant manager and got to cater a luncheon for the Queen. That luncheon, however, almost didn't happen.
"The ovens failed, so we had to have a an entourage of chefs walk to a hotel next door, use their ovens, get the the entree cooked, and then have a police escort back into the town hall where we were serving the lunch," Cawdron said. "The Queen's table, which was about a table of 12 I think, that was already prepared. So if worst come to worst, all the other people would have just sat and pretended to eat and the Queen would have had her lunch and then moved on to the next engagement that she had."
Cawdron got to wait on Her Majesty and serve her one of her favorite drinks, a gin and dubonnet.
Cawdron says there will be a lot of symbolism, patriotism and tradition in the days ahead.
A plan, known as Operation London Bridge, involves a series of protocols that take effect to ensure a smooth transition of power to the next person in line for a seat on the British throne, her oldest son, Charles.
MORE: How Queen Elizabeth II shaped history over nearly a century | Indiana politicians react to the death of Queen Elizabeth II | Royal household staff post notice of Queen Elizabeth II death on gates at Palace of Holyroodhouse | Queen Elizabeth II has died: Now, what happens to her beloved dogs?
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