Ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have been reflecting on their memories of meeting the Queen and the admiration they have for her.

The pair, originally from Nottingham, are famous for their Olympic and world success, and ITV show Dancing On Ice.

Mr Dean said he had written to the monarch, expressing gratitude for her work, and had received a response a few days before her death.

“She’s been there for all of us for so long, all of my lifetime,” he said.

Mr Dean, who began his career as a police officer, said he had first seen the Queen during a visit she paid to Nottingham when he was on duty in the city’s Old Market Square.

“Little did I know I would be having lunch with her some years later,” he said.

“It was quite a journey meeting the Queen on these occasions. She was a wonderful, wonderful woman and monarch.”

Mr Dean said he and Ms Torvill had been asked for lunch with the Queen when they won the world championships in the early 80s.

“We were very timid at that time,” he said.

“It was a very formal lunch, just 14 people. The Queen came in with Prince Philip and all the corgis were running around as well.

“Then we sat down and everybody had an individual footman behind them serving things. For us, two kids from Nottingham, it was very humbling.”

Mr Dean said he had recently written to the Queen to thank her for the service she had given the country.

“I got a letter back two days before Her Majesty passed,” he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

“It was from her lady in waiting but she said the Queen was very pleased. I was so touched – I didn’t even expect to get a reply.

“I think we all hold our heads higher when we are abroad because of what the Queen represented.

“Everybody around the world knows about the monarch. I think we are all proud of that, wherever we go.”

“The minute she comes up to you, she makes you feel at ease,” Ms Torvill added.

“Whatever she says to you, there’s a little bit of humour in it as well.

“The first ones that enter the room are the corgis.

“You know that when they are there, the Queen is about to enter the room.”

Ms Torvill said she and Mr Dean – who are also former British and European champions – had put on a skating show for the Queen at the Nottingham Arena during her Diamond Jubilee year.

“We were there to choreograph it and put it on,” she said.

“At the end of the show, Chris and I had to escort the Queen and Prince Philip along the line – there was a red carpet – and introduce them to all of the skaters that had taken part in the show.

“It was surreal to walk alongside the Queen and Prince Philip for maybe 20 minutes. It was wonderful.”