Queen turns reporter at Reuters building opening

The Queen today showed off her linguistic skills before filing a news report at the official opening of the new Reuters building in Canary Wharf, London.

Her Majesty conversed fluently in French as she toured the company’s global headquarters – and even launched a story about her visit onto the agency’s news wire.

Dressed in a striking red and black ensemble, she pressed a blue button in the reception of the ten storey building which propelled her story on to the screens in the lobby and outside the building and also worldwide.

Royal correspondent Paul Majendie wrote the story which flashed onto the screens and the wires.

He said following the visit: “I just said to her that has to be the most nerve-wracking story I have ever had to file. I have never shared a byline with royalty before!”

He added: “I said ’you are now officially a Reuters correspondent’.”

In addition to her journalistic prowess, the Queen also impressed staff with her ability to speak French.

Her Majesty continued chatting happily for three or four minutes with two French-speaking photographers.

Miriam McKay, head of global investor relations and European public relations, explained: “When the Queen realised they were both happy in French, she switched into French.”

Watched by scores of onlookers, she was greeted by chairman Niall Fitzgerald and chief executive officer Tom Glocer at the multi-storey building in London’s Canary Wharf this morning.

She met staff and customers, viewed a memorial book dedicated to staff who have lost their lives in conflicts dating back to the 1860s and toured the newsroom.

Simon Walker, director of corporate marketing and communications, said following the visit: “It has been fantastic. Everyone loved it – there was huge enthusiasm amongst all the staff.

“It was very multinational, which reflected Reuters’ multinational character.”

The building is home to 2,500 staff who moved in from six Reuters buildings around London in July and August this year.

Reuters’ move from its former home in Fleet Street this June marked the end of an era in the history of journalism.

The news organisation was one of the last to be based on the road famed for its newspaper industry.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, led the exodus by moving his printing presses for The Sun and the News of the World to Wapping in 1986, and one by one other newspapers followed suit.

Reuters moved to Fleet Street in 1939, just before the Second World War broke out.

Among the only journalists left there now are a handful who work for Scottish publisher DC Thomson.

James Bond creator Ian Fleming and Day Of The Jackal author Frederick Forsyth were both Reuters journalists.

The company was founded in London in 1851 when Paul Julius Reuter, a German-born immigrant, opened an office in the City of London which transmitted stock market quotations between London and Paris via the new Calais-Dover cable.