Shirley Hazlewood, QSM, of Kaponga, was one of the guests invited to meet Prince Charles at the Tea with Taranaki event on Monday.
Shirley, who is in a wheelchair, says meeting Prince Charles was a dream come true.
"I have always wanted to go to England to watch the changing of the guard, but that isn't going to happen, so to meet a prince, was just wonderful," says the polio survivor.
"I am so pleased you have got mum's medal," Prince Charles said to her as they met, commenting on her Queen's Service Medal. He spent some time talking to her, asking about her experience with polio. "There wasn't a vaccine then was there?" he asked, adding he remembered being vaccinated himself.
His Royal Highness told Shirley he could tell she was a busy woman, "I can see that you don't sit down, even though you do," he joked, referring to her wheelchair.
