Queen thanks schoolgirl for letting her ‘win’ grand prix race
The Queen thanked schoolchildren for letting her “win” a mini grand prix during a visit to an east London school.
The Queen, 77, officially opened the Mulberry Academy London Dock, which is the eighth and latest school to form part of the Mulberry Trust group, on Tuesday.
She was introduced to work done as part of a project in which pupils design, build and race mini cars powered by CO2 and learn about aerodynamics and engineering.
Gamely taking a turn, the Queen competed in Lane One against 11-year-old pupil Mahira, winning the sprint car race in 0.900 seconds, with her reaction to the starter gun recorded at 0.198 seconds.
After the race, in which her schoolgirl rival finished in 0.943 seconds despite a faster reaction time, the Queen said: “I can’t believe I beat you. I think you were being very kind.”
The tour included a trip to the science lab, where the Queen watched pupils extract dye from spinach and beetroot, exclaiming: “My goodness, I haven’t seen one of these Bunsen burners for a very long time.”
She smiled as she watched a five-strong band of 14 and 15-year-old boys bound through an energetic rendition of My Shot from the musical Hamilton, which references King George III.
She was also presented with a cake, which she said she would have “for my tea”.
At the end of her visit, the Queen was thanked for her “steadfast support” for the trust over the past 12 years.
After cutting a purple ribbon to officially open the school, she gave an off-the-cuff speech. She said: “I think I came to my first visit 12 years ago and since then I appear to have become more and more involved with you.
“Coming to this wonderful new school today just to see how everything is progressing in such a brilliant way, I just hope the Mulberry tradition will go on for ever and ever.
“I can only congratulate you and thank you very, very much for having me and letting me win a car race.”
Michelle Obama, the former first lady, visited Mulberry School for Girls in July 2015 to launch her Let Girls Learn campaign.
