THE QUEEN WON'T ABDICATE - SHE CARRIES ON BECAUSE SHE ENJOYS BEING QUEEN'

ROYAL EXPERT JENNIE BOND INVITES OK! INTO HER HOME TO TALK ABOUT HER MAJESTY'S JUBILEE PREPARATIONS AND SOME OF HER CAREER'S BIGGEST MOMENTS

- JENNIE BOND

It's the Queen's big week as the Platinum Jubilee celebrations mark her 70 years of service to the nation. And during Her Majesty's record-breaking reign, former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond has become a bit of a Great British institution herself.

When we arrive at her house, a short drive from the Devonshire coast, the 71-year-old greets us in a suitably patriotic outfit of a blue tea dress, a pearl necklace and red lipstick. It's 8 am and Jennie asks Alexa to play some music, then pops the kettle on. If she's not working, she's usually doing a Zoom Pilates class or looking after her three Shetland ponies. "They poo 19 times a day!" she laughs. Still, the chore keeps her fit.

Originally a First World War Army barracks with acres of land, Jennie's house - which she bought in 1992 with husband Jim, 83 - is vast and colorful, with the furniture and walls all hand-painted by her. Yet you won't see any photos of her with the royals she followed for so many years. "Selfies weren't a thing then," she says. "It's not very cool to ask the Queen for a quick pic, is it?"

Jennie quit her role at the BBC in 2003 to make a permanent move to Devon. During the height of her royal reporting, she would travel 10 hours to London and back again, suffering waves of mum guilt for leaving her then-young daughter Emma, 32, behind.