The Queen tends to keep her inner circle close, with her confidantes mostly drawn from a small circle of aristocratic families.
However, Her Majesty — who is celebrating 70 years on the throne today— is said to have had an unlikely friendship with an outspoken dairy farmer from New Zealand, who she met after he criticised her herd of cows.
In 1975, dairy farmer Don Ferguson, a renowned Jersey breeder, is said to have visited the Royal Show at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire but wasn’t too impressed with the Royal herd of cows.
Don’s widow June, now 86, told the Daily Mail that her husband told the royal herdsman that his own cows were better. “Most people wouldn’t have said what they were really thinking, but he was right!” she said.
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