Flying The Royals charity tea talk 

Round & About

Flying the Royals is a fundraising talk & tea event at Great Missenden Parish Church, HP16 0BA, at 2.30pm on Saturday, 11th October.  

In his final talk to help the Friends of Great Missenden Church charity, Squadron Leader Graham Laurie MVO, RAF (Retd) will talk about his high-flying career in the air with members of the Royal Family, including a young Prince Charles.  

Graham joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1964. He flew for 36 years amassing a total of 13,500 hours and during the last 20 years of his career he flew members of the Royal Family and senior Government Ministers.  

In 1981 he was selected for The Queen’s Flight as Personal Pilot to HRH The Prince of Wales, although he also flew all members of the Royal Family. Initially flying the Andover C Mk2 (The military version of the Avro 748) and from 1986 the BAe 146 the four engined jet. In 1991 he was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) by Her Majesty the Queen. 

In 1995 upon the disbandment of The Queen’s Flight, he moved to No 32 (The Royal) Squadron at RAF Northolt.  

In 1997 he flew the body of HRH The Princess of Wales back from Paris, the last of over 200 flights with her. He retired in December 2000 having flown 2214 Royal Flights of which 767 were with HRH The Prince of Wales. 

Graham is now President of The Queen’s Flight Association and Secretary of The Chiltern Aircrew Association. Married to Jo (a former WRAF Operations Officer) with two grown-up children. Jo and Graham have lived in the Chilterns since 1976.  

In 2011 both Graham and Jo were made Ambassadors of the RAF Benevolent Fund for their fundraising efforts. Graham giving talks and Jo with her cartoon Christmas Card designs for the Fund. He was a soccer referee for forty years but now concentrates on a busy retirement life with Jo and the family Labrador. 

Tickets £15pp at the door or from Samways in Station Approach and there will be a raffle and homemade preserves for sale.  

The Friends would love your help to raise the £10,000 needed for urgent repairs to the church tower and stonework this autumn. The large church was founded in 1133AD. Vivienne Davis, the Hon Chairman would also like to thank all the Round & About readers who enjoyed Sunday cream teas at the church all summer – the final of this year’s highlights is 3-5pm on 28th September. “We have over 200 people most Sundays and the live music is excellent,” says Vivienne.