On both occasions The Queen presented him with significant items. Firstly, it was the Five Nations Trophy at Twickenham on 19 March, 1994, and then an MBE at Buckingham Palace on 22 October, 1996.
“I really can’t remember if she said anything to me other than ‘congratulations’ at Twickenham because it was such a bitter-sweet moment. We had lost a game against England, 15-8, and with the defeat it meant we didn’t win the Grand Slam,” recalled Evans, who is soon to be chairman of the British & Irish Lions committee.
“That was the second time in my career I’d fallen at the final hurdle – the other one was against France in Cardiff in 1988 – and not even being awarded the trophy by The Queen could take away all the pain.
“It was only the second time the trophy had been awarded and the previous year I’d handed it over to the French captain, Jean-Francois Tordo, at the post-match function in the centre of Paris after France had beaten us 26-10 to take the title.
“A year on it was an honour to have it presented to me as the Welsh captain by The Queen. Will Carling was supposed to have taken his team up to meet her, but he didn’t want to do that even though his side had won the game.
“They needed to beat us by 16 points to win the title on points difference, but they couldn’t manage that. We started slowly and came back into it in the second half with a try by Nigel Walker – it was there for us, but we didn’t take our chance.”
The next meeting between the triple Lion, and former Wales record cap holder (72) and try scorer (33), and The Queen came on her ‘turf’ two years later when Evans received an MBE for services to rugby at Buckingham Palace.
With his proud parents and then fiancee, now wife, Kathryn, in tow he received his award from The Queen.
“I can’t remember if she said anything to me at the time, but I can recall it was a very, very special day for me and my family,” added Evans.
“At this sad time, following the death of The Queen, I’d like to offer my sincere condolences to the Royal Family on the loss of their mother and grandmother. We should also recognise her patronage of the Welsh Rugby Union from 1952-2016.
“We now have Prince William, the newly appointed Prince of Wales, as our Patron and he has already made a major impact since taking over the role.”
The Queen made two visits to the home of Welsh rugby during her tenure as Patron. She had been due to arrive at the old Arms Park in 1958 for both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1958 Empire & Commonwealth Games, but illness prevented her visiting the Welsh capital.
She attended the WRU centenary fixture between England & Wales and Scotland & Ireland on 29 November, 1980 and was treated to a real festival with 70 points and no fewer than 12 tries scored. It took an injury time try from Gareth Davies, the former WRU chairman, to win it in the end with a converted try.
Steve Fenwick and Andy Irvine, the captains of the two teams, introduced The Queen to their resp3ective teams and centenary President, Cliff Jones, escorted her onto the field along with her husband, Prince Philip.
ENG & WAL 37 – 33 SCOT & IRE
Wales & England: JPR Williams (W); John Carleton (E), Clive Woodward (E), Steve Fenwick (W, captain), Mike Sleman (E); Gareth Davies (W), T Holmes (W); Clive Williams (W), Peter Wheeler (E), Graham Price (W), Bill Beaumont (E), Maurice Colclough (E), Derek Quinnell (W), Mike Rafter (E), Gareth Williams (W)
Reps: David Richards (W), Gary Pearce (W), Steve Smith (E), Phil Blakeway (E), Alan Phillips (W), John Scott (E)
Scorers: T: Carleton 2, Gareth Williams 2, Woodward, Beaumont, Davies; C: Davies 3; DG: WoodwardScotland & Ireland: Andy Irvine (S, captain); David Johnston (S), Jim Renwick (S), David Irwin (Ir), Bruce Hay (S); Tony Ward (Ir), John Robbie (Ir); Phil Orr (Ir), Colin Deans (S), Mick Fitzpatrick (Ir), Donal Spring (Ir), Alan Tomes (S), John O’Driscoll (Ir), Fergus Slattery (Ir), John Beattie (S)
Reps: Keith Robertson (S), John Rutherford (S), Allan Lawson (S), Gerry McLoughlin (Ir), Ciaran Fitzgerald (Ir), David Gray (S)
Scorers: T: Irwin, Johnston, Beattie, Irvine, Ward; C: Ward 5; P: WardReferee: Jean-Pierre Bonnet (France)
Queen Elizabeth II took over from her father, King George VI, as the Patron of the WRU in 1952 and served for more than 60 years in that role. She relinquished her position along with 25 other royal patronages of UK organisations, passing on her duties at the WRU to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.
Her first proposed visit to Cardiff Arms Park was due in 1958 for the sixth edition of what was then the British Empire & Commonwealth Games. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to Wales for the event, which featured for the first time the Queen’s Baton Relay.
A baton relay from Mountain Ash to Pontypridd ,to commemorate the centenary of the Welsh national anthem, was organised in 1956 by athletics official Bernard Baldwin, who proposed something similar for the Games. The relay has been involved in every Commonwealth Games since then.
There were 10 sports involved in the 1958 Games – athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling – and in addition to hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, Cardiff Arms Park staged the athletics events.
The Queen’s Baton Relay, intended to symbolise peace and harmony through sports participation, set off from Buckingham Palace on 14 July, with Roger Bannister, the first man to run a sub-four minute mile, carrying it on its first leg accompanied by fellow Games champions Chris Chataway and Peter Driver. It travelled through several English counties, and all 13 in Wales, on its journey to Cardiff.
The silver-gilt and enamel baton was designed by Cardiff jeweller, Roy Crouch, who was chairman of the Games’ Medals Committee. It was decorated with Welsh national symbols – a red dragon, daffodils and leeks, along with crowns representing the royal connection.
The honour of carrying it into the stadium at the opening ceremony fell to one of Wales’ greatest sportsmen, Ken Jones. The ex-Newport, Wales and British & Irish Lions wing, who also won an Olympic silver medal in the sprint relay with Team GB, delivered the baton to The Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The closing ceremony was held on 26 July and turned into an historic occasion. Although continued illness prevented The Queen from attending in person, a recorded message was played to the crowd in which she announced: “I intend to create my son Charles, Prince of Wales today. When he is grown up, I will present him to you at Caernarfon.”
She was well enough, however, to attend the final of the 1999 Rugby World Cup final on 6 November at the magnificent Millennium Stadium. Australia beat France 35-12 and The Queen presented the Webb Ellis Trophy to Wallaby skipper John Eales.
