Queen remembered by former Sask. mayors after death

Both Donald Atchison and Pat Fiacco saw Queen Elizabeth parade through Saskatchewan when they were just boys.

“I never thought one day that I’d actually have the opportunity to actually greet and meet the Queen on behalf of the citizens of Saskatoon,” Atchison said, thinking back to the event his mom took himself and his brother to.

Atchison was mayor of Saskatoon from 2003 to 2016. He remembered the Queen’s later visit to the province in 2005 to celebrate Saskatchewan’s 100th birthday.

He met the queen at the airport on a blustery day — someone lost a hat at one point, to which Her Majesty’s secret service yelled “Don’t move! If you do, they’ll shoot you,” while someone pounced on it.

The doors to the plane opened and the Queen stepped out for a photo opportunity before starting down them. Atchison recalled a sinking feeling as the stairs lurched and Queen Elizabeth stumbled.

“I went, ‘Oh no, I can see the headlines already: Queen falls for mayor, as I catch her in my arms.’ Thank goodness, she was able to grab onto the railing and she steadied herself.”

After composing herself and making it down the stairs, Atchison was able to welcome her to Saskatoon.

“You know, one has to be a tad careful on those stairs,” Atchison remembered her telling him.

The group then headed off the see Saskatoon’s Synchotron project, where Atchison was to present the Queen with the key to the city.

He got a further glimpse into the Queen’s wit when she asked him “Has anybody used the key yet?”

Atchison responded: “If there’s anything in the vault, I would have used the key already.

His response sent the Queen into a fit of laughter, he recalled.

“Then she realized that she was laughing and she stopped right in the middle of it and she put on her official face again,” he said. “But it was really a wonderful moment.”

Atchison said the Queen was “just a really great person,” and he has fond memories of their meeting, and of meeting Prince Philip.

“It was a wonderful afternoon, going back to the airport afterwards and seeing her off and then seeing the plane leave Saskatoon.”

During her visit that year to Regina, former mayor Pat Fiacco said her visit was a great time that went by fast.

He remembered her as a soft-spoken lady and very classy.

“Just a first-class person … and was interested in what you had to say,” Fiacco shared.

When they first saw the Queen, Fiacco said the first thing his wife remarked to him was, “Oh, she has such beautiful skin,” laughing at the memory.

“I remember that as if she said it yesterday.”

There were many smiles meeting the Queen, and on the Queen’s face as well. Fiacco said it was incredible to have had the privilege of an audience with the Queen, and a photo from the meeting is still displayed in his home.

He said the royal protocol was a bit unnerving and he wanted to act like a gentleman in the Queen’s presence.

Atchison said Her Majesty was warm and humorous.

“I think she was a very genuine person. She wanted to make everyone feel important, that they are the most important person at that particular point in time.”

While Queen Elizabeth was in Saskatoon, she learned about Saskatoon berries.

“They wanted to know about them and I explained to them that Saskatoon berries are really a unique product for Saskatchewan,” Atchison said.

He planned to send the Queen a bush of the berries afterwards, to plant at one of her homes across the ocean. Unfortunately, his gesture of goodwill was thwarted.

“We were told that we were unable to do that because it’s considered an invasive species and therefore it couldn’t get in to Great Britain.”

The former Saskatoon mayor said knowing that she was under immense pressure as a result of her position, her regular international travel and being away from her family, he felt she did a “phenomenal job” in her capacity as Queen.

Fiacco said she will be greatly missed.

“There’s certainly a special place in our hearts for Queen Elizabeth,” he said. “She certainly has been a very strong woman, a very strong queen, and overall a priviledge for us to have been able to have met her.”

He expects he and his wife will watch her funeral, much the same as they did when Prince Philip passed in 2021.