John and Josie Beeley enjoyed their date with royalty

Josie was invited to attend the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on July 2, hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

And she was delighted to accept when the call came through earlier this year from the Provost’s office.

She said: “I’d been a guest at a garden party many years ago but I was delighted to be invited. I’m not sure who put my name forward but I'm very grateful to them.

“It was a lovely day and, while it was cloudy, there were only a couple of spots of rain. The afternoon tea was amazing, with tiny little sandwiches served on lovely china.

“We were allowed to take a small camera in and were over the moon to get the picture with the Royal Standard flying in the background.”

While Josie and John didn’t rub shoulders with the King and Queen, they did mingle with The Earl and Countess of Forfar (Prince Edward and Sophie).

John and Josie were also delighted to secure tickets to enjoy two days at Wimbledon this year. It was a bit of a homecoming for Josie, who served as an umpire at the event for 20 years before retiring in 2013.

She said: “We were there for the longest women’s semi-final between Jasmine Paolini and Donna Vekic.”

As a Wimbledon fan, I couldn’t resist asking Josie about her favourites.

She said: “Andre Agassi was one of the umpires’ favourites as he was never a problem while Roger Federer was a lovely player and guy – a perfect gentleman.

“The one I would have loved to have seen get to a Wimbledon final was Tim Henman but the really successful players are the ones who don’t want to lose – they’ve got that bit extra.”

Josie had little doubt Andy Murray had that fire, although the very first match she umpired featured his mum, Judy, at Whitecraigs.

She added: “The first match I saw Andy play was in a junior tournament for 12s and under at Bridge of Allan.

“Even then he was not very happy if he lost! I could never have foreseen what the future held but I met Andy on numerous occasions and was always impressed by his absolute determination to win.”

Josie is a member of Bearsden North Community Council and is also actively involved in Mosshead Residents Association. However, she is best known for her career as an LTA tennis official.

This began in 1977 when Bearsden Lawn Tennis Club celebrated its 90th anniversary and Josie was persuaded to organise a tournament.

She is also a tennis player, having played for the University of Manchester, Bearsden LTC and the University of Glasgow Staff Tennis Club, where she is still co-ordinator of ladies tennis. Most recently Josie has turned her skills to the development of tennis for the visually impaired.

An LTA professional coach, John is a past president of Tennis West of Scotland, a councillor of Tennis Scotland and has been a member of Bearsden Lawn Tennis Club for over 50 years where he was instrumental in the reconstruction of the clubhouse following a fire in 1987, its centenary year.

The couple, who have a son James who lives locally, are both retired academics.