Even the Pope can’t ruffle ‘Anita the greeter’

12 April 2012

A Territorial Army officer will be the first person to greet Pope Benedict when he arrives in London at around 9.15pm.

Anita Newcourt, 45, the VIP services manager at Heathrow, will be the first person the pontiff sees before he has a private meeting with Boris Johnson.

Ms Newcourt, a Lieutenant Colonel in the TA, is known by colleagues as "Anita the greeter". She will usher the Pope into the royal suite at Terminal 4. Four months of planning have gone into the visit. Papal aides have decreed that there will be no handshakes.

"My job is to make the whole orchestra play together," she says. "And to ensure that no one is playing out of tune. It's important to get the details right. The welcome starts at Heathrow. If it goes wrong here, it sets the wrong tone for an entire trip."

In her 15 years in the job, she has met everyone from Nelson Mandela to the Dalai Lama. She is fluent in several languages and says her Army officer's training at Sandhurst gave her confidence.

She also has to cope with the unexpected: one Middle Eastern leader's 30-person entourage wanted to be taken to McDonald's while Princess Margaret always expected a bacon sandwich to be ready on her arrival.

"I know it sounds really big-headed," she told the Daily Telegraph, "but I can't think of anyone left I'd like to meet. Most of the really interesting people have already died. The job is a huge privilege and I'm looking forward to meeting the Pope. But as a Pole by birth, I'd have been more excited if it had been his predecessor."

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