RICHMOND, Va. -- Horace Edward Mann of Glen Allen has a special relic of Queen Elizabeth II in his home: a signed photograph she gave him when he met her 15 years ago.
"We met for about 10 minutes. It's like talking to your grandmother," Mann said. "I was fortunate to meet her. She was a vibrant and effective leader of her people."
Mann is the co-author of "The Queen and the U.S.A., America's Pictorial Tribute to the Queen." He met her during the 2007 Jamestown Commemoration when Queen Elizabeth visited Richmond, Williamsburg and Jamestown.
"She was a delightful woman. She was very bright, very on top of things. She told me, I mean there she was, it was May of '07, she was telling me things that she remembered in October of '57, as to when she had come to Jamestown."
Queen Elizabeth had a total of three state visits to Virginians, more than any other state in the Union, Mann said, citing her special relationship to the Commonwealth.
She visited in 1957 for the 350th anniversary of the Jamestown commemoration and visited Charlottesville in 1976 for the bicentennial.
She only spoke before two joint sessions of a legislative body. One was before Congress and the other was before Virginia's General Assembly.
Mann said he believes Virginia has a special connection with Queen Elizabeth and her legacy, given the historical relationship between the Commonwealth and Great Britain.
"When people from England and Britain come here, they say they feel at home because they go through South Hampton and Suffolk and Sussex and Surry, and that's just the 'S' counties," he said. "I think Virginians feel a special affinity for her. I feel Virginia is the most English-centric state in the Union. I think, yes, Virginians will feel a palpable loss with her passing."
