Iowan Bill Bryson, who dined with Queen Elizabeth II, says she was not a 'remote and forbidding figure'

Bill Bryson, Des Moines Register royalty, author of 19 books, member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and Fellow of the Royal Society, recalled recently his experiences meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The 70-year-old Des Moines Roosevelt and Drake University graduate, who wrote The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and A Walk In the Woods, has been a Brit for most of his adult life. But he said in an email to the Register that he feared he would be sent back to Iowa during one of his interactions with the late monarch.

“I was lucky enough to meet the Queen on three occasions,” Bryson, a former chancellor at Durham University in England, told the Des Moines Register in an email a few days after her death. “The thing I most remember is how attractive she was in person, with a really lovely smile and friendly manner — not at all the remote and forbidding figure she often seemed to be on public occasions. I think she was very good at putting people at their ease.”

Bryson’s Iowa upbringing was evident during one of his meals.

“To my distinct horror, I found myself seated beside her at a formal lunch once, with a dazzling array of silverware, glassware and small bowls before us that I had no idea when or how to employ and for which courses,” he wrote in lyrical words that only Bill Bryson can write. “I couldn't even be sure which drinking glasses were hers, and which were mine.”

Related: With Queen Elizabeth II's death, what changes in the UK? The national anthem, money and more

When you have as regal a resume as Bryson’s, you get invited to major events.

“When the food was brought around, I had to serve myself roast pheasant from a platter that she held for me, certain that I would drop most of it on the tablecloth or onto my lap — or, worse, onto her lap — and then I had to hold the platter for her to serve herself,” Bryson said. “When I confessed to her how unnerving I found this, she was very gracious and assured me that I had done well.

“The other thing I recall from the lunch, was that she kept giving pieces of food to the corgis that were gathered around her ankles, " he wrote. “As you can imagine, it was an entirely surreal experience. I spent the whole lunch imagining that some liveried butler would tap me on the shoulder and quietly say into my ear, 'We don't know how you got in here, but we need you to leave now. We're sending you back to Iowa.'

Bryson said she was radiant in other occasions as well.

"The two other occasions on which I met her was when I was standing in reception lines with several other people, so saw her only briefly, but again was struck by her warm smile and cheerful manner. It is amazing to think how many times in her 70 years as Queen she must have had to smile radiantly at strangers and act interested in their lives.

"She truly was magnificent," he said.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson embarked on his 50th year of writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowan Bill Bryson's career includes dining with late Queen Elizabeth