Ler Gay Paw, Mark, Emily and Moira Findlay practice their greetings before attending a royal lunch. 72524 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By XAVIER SMERDON
THEIR school uniform may be made up of royal blue, but students from Iramoo Primary School in Wyndham Vale never thought they would get the opportunity to meet the Queen of England.
As Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, toured Melbourne last week, three students and their principal Moira Findlay were on their way to an exclusive lunch at Government House with the royal couple.
Ms Findlay was chosen to represent the Regional Director of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development along with three students.
School Captains Mark Beamish and Emily Morris along with former Iramoo PS student Ler Gay Paw Toe Ken, were the lucky students chosen to attend the function.
Ler Gay Paw’s story is truly remarkable as she is part of the Karen community, her mother passed away when she was just a baby and she was raised by her sister.
Since then she has mastered four languages and last week was a guest of honour at a lunch hosted by the Queen.
Ms Findlay said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. “Everything about it was terrific,” Ms Findlay said.
“The one thing that the kids kept saying over and over again was ‘oh wow’.”
While the Queen herself could not quite meet every single guest at the lunch, Prince Philip did stop and have a chat with the students.
“He walked straight up to us and he wanted to know where Iramoo was,” Ms Findlay said.
“But it wasn’t just the Queen there, everyone who was anyone was there and the kids noticed a lot of them from TV.”
