I saw today that the Queen is coming to Salisbury (my work town) next week imagine doing the risk assessment and preparations for that! Out of curiosity has anyone had to do this type of VIP assessment?

Madonna has a huge entourage. I'm sure risk assessors are in there somewhere. Probably double as dancers during the show.

I think this is going to turn into an early friday thread!

To echo Jane Blunt's comments the Royal security system seems to be very thorough with its preparations including pre-visit searches, sniffer dogs and plain clothes security people, etc., and done as unobtrusively as possible. Years ago I heard a tale that for a few days and nights before a royal visit to a stately home open to the public, undercover security people had staked out the surrounding moorland estate which had a resident herd of deer. For some months beforehand someone had been poaching deer and the estate staff were puzzled that they hadn't heard anyone using a gun for this purpose. However, all was solved shortly after the stakeout began when the security people spotted and caught the poacher who had been working silently with a crossbow at night. Also after Princess Anne visited a technology college in my area as part of its centenary celebrations some years ago it was rumoured that one could identify which parts of the building she had visited by looking for the rooms and corridors which were freshly painted and had new furniture, etc. So, if you've got premises which are long overdue for redecoration, and there never seems to be any money or enthusiam for redecoration, having a royal visit through as much of the premises as possible is likely to be of help!

Involved with visit of prominent politician, speacial branch do all the work. just had to make sure they had access and no fire alarms etc

When my daughter was about two and in the local children's hospital, visit by Princess Anne. They spray painted one of the three lifts with little general ventilation and no extraction. Solvent-based paint containing lead (1984). A few years later, I had to accompany the Minister around a bottling hall to look at noise control measures in advance of the Noise at Work Regs 1989. Three days after he had also been appointed as Chair of the Conservative Party. Rather clear that he hadn't assimilated the content of a one and half page briefing note that I had prepared. Asked how much whisky they distilled at the site.

This topic also reminds me of something I remember from my youth. I grew up in a rural area where the main landowner was a famous photographer and cousin to the Queen. His estate would regularly hold shoots through the season and a couple of times a year, senior members of the Royal Family and foreign Royals would attend. It is apparently tradition that the Estate Managers wife cooks for all the guests in the big house after the shoot. When Royal visits took place, she would be taken shopping by a couple of Special Branch officers to buy all the food for the meal. Once home they never let the shopping out of their sight and she was only allowed to use what they had witnessed her buying. Once cooked, she had to eat a portion along with one of the Special Branch officers, before serving to the guests. Apparently she had a reputation for not being a very good cook and would get very nervous because of this. There were stories of her variations to well known dishes, because in her nerves she had forgotten to buy key ingredients, so had to leave them out as she could only use what the SB officers had witnessed her buying.

For those working to protect members of the Royal Family and other VIPs such as prime ministers it must be a strange and testing experience to work alongside such high profile people and inevitably become familiar with them, their daily lives and foibles, etc., and yet remain highly discreet both during such work and for ever afterwards. In a slightly different role a former OS&H colleague of mine in his previous career with the RAF got to know various members of the Royal Family through working for a number of years on the Queen’s Flight but, like Messyshaw’s friend, remained very circumspect about divulging information gained during his experiences. However, he seemed to have a high regard for the Royals based on how he and his colleagues were treated by them, especially the late Queen Mother. For those being protected it must also seem intrusive and trying at times to have security people shadowing them on an almost constant basis even though their role is a necessary one. Also, I guess that at the back of VIPs’ minds is the suspicion that some security people and other close staff might reveal personal or confidential information about them even if only as gossip to relatives and friends rather than to journalists for money in today’s perpetually news-hungry age. Messy’s friend might also recall having to endure midges during Royal Protection work in Scotland during the summer months. If so, in addition to the reduced security pressure, this might have also have explained why he enjoyed working on the Royal Yacht ‘Britannia’ - except perhaps when the Royal Family spent their summer holidays cruising the West Coast of Scotland which is notorious for the ferocity of its midges. Britannia is now a major tourist attraction open to the public at Leith Docks by Edinburgh. When my missus and I visited it several years ago one of the things which struck me was how cramped the small dormitory rooms for the crew would have been when in use. If officers had to use such rooms when relinquishing their usual accommodation to security people, they probably wouldn’t have been too happy about it. Another aspect of the vessel was how clean and tidy everything was, including the engine rooms, and reportedly this was the case during Britannia’s seagoing years. Also, the insulation on some pipework below decks looked from its appearance to comprise asbestos material though suitably painted and hopefully reasonably free from risk of damage.

I've often wondered about the long term effects of paint fumes on our royals.

This thread seems an appropriate one in which to mention that one of the Queen's uncles was a factory inspector before World War Two (WW2). The uncle was Prince George alias Duke of Kent who was an inspector from 1932 until military service during WW2 when he died in a plane crash. I wonder what name was on his warrant - perhaps it was George Windsor. Also, in keeping with the main theme of this thread, I guess that as a son of King George V and brother of King George VI he was accompanied on his visits by a bodyguard or two. Perhaps there was also some pre-vetting and even some pre-selection of the various factory premises he visited. Anyhow, his role could be interpreted as indicating that working for HM Factory Inspectorate, the main predecessor of today's HSE, was considered sufficiently respectable and appropriate for a member of the Royal Family in those days!

Is the Queen "at work".

We have Crown Immunity and I’m not a Queen.

we only have your word for that :-)