Spencer Oliver recounts ‘surreal’ moment he spoke with the Queen about boxing after Buckingham Palace invite

Spencer Oliver has recounted the ‘surreal’ moment that he met Queen Elizabeth II and discussed boxing.

The former fighter and current talkSPORT broadcaster was invited to Buckingham Palace in 1998 after suffering a blood clot on his brain that led him to collapse during his clash with Sergei Devakov at the Royal Albert Hall.

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The Queen has sadly passed away at the age of 96

Oliver is a popular part of the talkSPORT family and had a life-changing meeting with The Queen back in 1998

While admitting that he didn’t know much about the Royal family before his visit, Oliver now proudly declares himself as a Royalist and says that the news of Her Majesty’s passing on Thursday afternoon has left him ‘devastated’.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Oliver explained: “It was a crazy time in my life. I was boxing a guy called Sergei Devakov at the Royal Albert Hall making a routine defence of my European title, a title that I was supposed to have won before I went on and boxed for a world title but my world came crashing down when I collapsed in the 10th round with a blood clot to the right side of my brain.

“I underwent a three-hour operation, had to learn to walk and talk and I was very fortunate that I came through in the way that I did.

“I was a young kid and had just turned 23 and I got a letter from the Queen which was just insane.

“I wasn’t a big royalist at the time, I was only young, and I didn’t know too much about the royal family if I’m totally honest.

“I got a letter from the Queen inviting me to Buckingham Palace for a Young Achievers’ award for what I’d achieved in the ring and how I’d come back and whatever.

“I went to Buckingham Palace and had this mad conversation with the Queen. I was there with a queue of people and waited until I was at the front of the queue.

“The conversation started when she went ‘Spencer, I’m so pleased that you could make it today’ and I was like wow, she knows my name – this is insane because she’s the Queen!

“It was just the presence that she had and the aura that she had about her.

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The Queen changed the life of everybody that she met during her 96 years

“She started talking about the fight and how she’s followed my recovery since then and how she was so pleased that I’d made the recovery and that boxing is just a sport, but that she was so pleased I’d made a full recovery.

“I’d just gone into a daze. It was one of those mad moments and from that day I became a huge royalist. I was a massive fan of the Queen and I’m just devastated really.

“It was one of those surreal moments – it was back in 1998 and I remember it like it was yesterday.

“I met everyone. Prince Charles was there, Prince Phillip was there and it was just a surreal moment, but the Queen is the Queen, and it was just a crazy moment and something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

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Oliver met both Her Majesty and then-Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace

Oliver added: “I don’t know if she watched the fight or was just well-read up on it but she took the time because she knew in detail about my recovery which was blowing me away and calling me by my first name.

“You just think, ‘wow, what a woman’.

“The leadership that she’s given this country over the last 70 years is absolutely phenomenal and she’s touched everybody around the globe and that’s why she’s such an incredible woman and why even speaking about it now I get emotional about it.

“I met her 20-odd years ago but she had that impact on me.”