Officer 'just being himself' praised for playful selfies with children queuing for Queen

A police officer who was captured on live TV letting youngsters wear his helmet for selfies as they waited to pay tribute to the Queen has been praised for his "common touch".

PC Kehinde Meshe's wife retweeted a clip of him shown on the BBC as it filmed crowds of mourners paying their respects to the late monarch outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

As footage pans across hundreds of people waiting outside the palace, the camera operator pauses on the touching scene of the officer playing with youngsters in the crowd.

While presenter Huw Edwards discusses the role of soldiers in the events surrounding the Queen's Lying in State, the Met officer can be seen letting the children wear his helmet, taking pictures for them and posing for selfies.

The footage was posted to Twitter by user Dave Thomas with a quote from Rudyard Kipling's 'If', and retweeted by PC Meshe's proud wife, Dr Agatha Nortley-Meshe.

"My amazing husband doing what he loves best," she wrote.

More than 15,000 people have liked her tweet, with hundreds praising the officer as a "credit to the police force".

Ian Marsh, a 38-year-old operations manager from Rutland, was among those whose son spoke to the officer.

Mr Marsh told ITV News: "PC Meshe enjoyed making Louie’s day as much as he made Louie’s.

"I think for such an emotional day for everyone it was heartwarming that he still took the time out to do that for us.

"But that goes for every police officer we came across, they were all in good spirits and willing to talk, help and point us in the right direction."

As well as being swiftly immortalised in Lego by a fellow officer, known as Brick CopPC, PC Meshe has been invited to meet the Met's deputy commissioner.

Dame Lynne Owens thanked the officer on Twitter and said she is looking forward to them "sharing a cuppa".

Dr Nortley-Meshe responded: "Thank you ma’am. He would appreciate that so much. I am extremely proud of him. He is such a humble, compassionate and fair person.

"He was just being himself and is so overwhelmed by the responses received. He doesn’t see it in himself but this is what leadership looks like."

"This is a side of policing that is rarely seen or publicised but it’s the part of the job that he loves," his wife added.

Earlier this week the chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation said that there had been no "gripes or groans" from officers facing 12-hour shifts and cancelled leave following the Queen’s death.

it came after the new boss of Britain’s biggest police force described preparations for the Queen’s Lying in State as a "massive challenge" during his first day in the job.

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