Royal thank you for land girl pals

Sixty years ago they did their bit for their country - now their country is doing its bit for them.

When they worked side by side as land girls in 1949, little did these two lifelong friends know they would be meeting the Queen for tea at Buckingham Palace this month as a "thank you" from the nation.

Ella Kimball Evans, 83, from Criftins, near Ellesmere, and Nora Morgan, 81, from Ellesmere, helped feed the nation in the aftermath of World War Two by toiling in the fields of Shropshire and north Wales with the Land Army.

Now the duo are poised to meet Her Majesty when about 90 specially-invited guests - two from each county - visit the royal household on October 21.

When Government officials called Mrs Morgan to say she and a companion had been chosen to receive the honour she initially thought it was a hoax call.

But when she realised the offer was genuine, the great-grandmother-of-three instantly shared the invitation with her old Land Army pal Mrs Evans.

Mrs Morgan, originally from Birkenhead, said: "I'm very excited and a little bit nervous about meeting the Queen and Prince Philip for tea.

"Ella and I have been friends since we met in the Land Army when we were 17 so we're in it together.

"I don't know what I'll say to the Queen but I imagine she's used to these things and talking about everyday things with people."

The pair, who worked together between 1946 and 1949 when they were based at Queensbridge, near Overton-on-Dee, are also to undergo a TV makeover and enjoy a first class train trip to London before they visit the Royals.

They are to feature on ITV's This Morning on the eve of their visit, when top stylist Charles Worthington will give the ladies new hairstyles to boost their confidence ahead of their big day.

Mrs Evans, a grandmother-of-nine originally from Stockport, said: "It's all been a bolt from the blue and it's all very surreal to think we're meeting the Queen.

"We're going for lunch in Covent Garden on the day then in the afternoon we go to the palace.

"I'm going to be like Cinderella and I'm going to meet a prince.

"I'm interested to see what the royal family are like in the flesh and not on screens. I've never met anyone famous before."

During their time based at Queensbridge, the girls met their future husbands.

They said they thought nothing of doing backbreaking work in the fields in exchange for 15 shillings a week and their lodgings.

Mrs Morgan said she can even recall helping lay the pipes for drains and sewers in Criftins during her time in the Land Army.

By Tom Johannsen