By Royal Appointment

The late Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Antiques Roadshow at Hillsborough Castle (Northern Ireland's royal residence) in 2014 marked a career highlight that lives on in the memories of the three experts who met her, says Janet Gleeson

- Janet Gleeson

'It was a huge surprise, shrouded by secrecy,’ recalls Paul Atterbury of the first inkling he had that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. A strange phone call from the BBC Antiques Roadshow office had asked if he would be available to travel to Hillsborough a day early. They couldn’t say why, and he was forbidden to discuss this conversation with anyone. It was only a week before the appointed day when the series director Simon Shaw announced the impending royal visit, and confirmed the three experts Paul, Hilary Kay and John Axford who would meet the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. T will never know why I was picked, but I was very pleased, Paul recalls.