General News of Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-09-13The day President Kufuor got stuck in an elevator with Prince Philip
This photo shows President Kufuor with his wife, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
The former president, John Agyekum Kufuor, has narrated how he got stuck in an ancient elevator with the late former Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
The two were on their way up the Buckingham Palace when this happened, the former president said.
He made this known in an interview with the Ghana Broadcasting
Read full articleCorporation (GBC), monitored by GhanaWeb.
According to John Agyekum Kufuor, on the day this happened, Prince Philip had come to meet him in his apartment, escorting him up to where he would meet Queen Elizabeth II when the elevator stopped halfway.
“On the evening of the banquet, my apartment was lower than where the banquet was taking place, but she had gone ahead with my wife to be in the receiving line with the invitees. And I put on my kente cloth, trying to display a bit of our culture and her husband had to come for me to escort me to join my wife to be in the receiving line to welcome visitors.
“… And so, we went into a lift to take us up to join them. The palace is an ancient place, the lift also very ancient. We got in there, and halfway – the building is quite a tall one- the lift stalled; it wouldn’t go. So, the Duke started shouting for the houseman who must be the mechanic working to get us down,” he said.
He continued that it had to take the quick intervention of a man known as Mr. Brown to get the elevator back and running.
The former president explained that when it was time for them to get back into the elevator, he humbly rather opted for the staircase, although it was a long walk to their destination.
“'Brown, Brown, get us down from here.’ So, I heard a cranking – some metal being put into the mechanism to roll us down from where we were. We got down there and saw Mr Brown with grease and duster, worked on it. We stood by for a bit, and then eventually, Mr. Brown said that the thing was fixed so we could go up. The Duke turned to me and said they are ready and so can we go? I looked at the lift, and the staircase was there, so I said, no, I’d rather go by the steps. So, the Duke smiled and said, right, let’s walk it,” he narrated.
Earlier, he also spoke about some of the wonderful treatments and hospitalities he was given on that visit, describing the late queen as a person with great humanity.
Watch the full interview below:
EA/SEA
