Mme. M. H. Callway Met the Queen!

You might think public health is boring, but it’s anything but! At Disease Control, I was a real-life detective hunting down the sources of disease outbreaks and dangerous chemical exposures.

For several years, I also helped to ensure safe food handling for VIP visits to Ontario. I mean, what could be more embarrassing to Canada than giving food poisoning to the Royal Family or the Pope or the Aga Khan at a banquet in their honour? And, as the police officers on security told us, one of the most effective ways to knock out an army is to give the soldiers gastro-enteritis.

The visiting Royals always met and thanked operations and security staff personally – truly a class act. That’s how I met the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – and have a framed photograph with them to show my grandchildren!