In January this year Her Majesty the Queen, President of Sandringham WI, joined members of her local Women’s Institute in a live game of ‘Pointless’ hosted by Alexander Armstrong and was on the winning team.
The Queen joined the Sandringham branch in 1943 when she was still Princess Elizabeth and visits WI members at West Newton village hall every year as part of her winter stay on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Armstrong, host of the BBC game show Pointless, was this year’s guest speaker and he entertained the 31 members of Sandringham WI with the live game.
He said that the Queen is a fan of Pointless, describing her as “our most distinguished viewer”.
Speaking after the meeting, Armstrong said the hall was divided into two teams for the game of Pointless, one headed by the Queen and the other by Yvonne Browne, vice-president of the Sandringham WI.
The Queen’s team was victorious in a best-of-five match which finished three-one, he said.
“I think Her Majesty and the team can be very pleased with themselves tonight and go back covered in glory,” said Armstrong.
“I think they can look back over the match and feel rightly proud of what they achieved.”
He said the Queen gave some answers herself and had “some deft, silky Pointless skills”.
He presented Sandringham WI with a Pointless trophy, gave a talk about his journey onto television and sang for the group with piano accompaniment.
“It’s literally like a dream come true because I think everyone dreams they’ve had tea with the Queen, and it was the most lovely experience,” he said.
“It’s our centenary year and the Queen very graciously said a few words about the fact it was our centenary and she hoped that the fun and friendship would continue into the next century.”