A ROYAL fanatic who has been following the Queen around the UK for decades has travelled to Windsor to get a glimpse of her on her 90th birthday.

Julia McCarthy-Fox, 51, from Horsham made the pilgrimage yesterday (April 20) in the hope of meeting her monarch again.

On arrival, Mrs McCarthy-Fox managed to snap some special pictures of Elizabeth II on the eve of her 90th birthday.

Mrs McCarthy-Fox told The Argus: "The atmosphere, the sunshine and the Queen's pink outfit were as bright as each other when Her Majesty carried out two engagements.

"A planned walkabout [for her actual birthday] is always a treat to look forward to as there is no question over whether it will happen or not, unlike an impromptu walkabout."

Mrs McCarthy-Fox has slept on pavements scores of times to meet her idol and, in December 2002, followed the Queen more than 14,000 miles on her Golden Jubilee tour across Britain.

Last September she travelled to Edinburgh to see the Queen on the day she broke records as the longest reigning monarch.

Today the Queen will be repeating some of the walkabout route from her 80th birthday and Mrs McCarthy-Fox hopes to wish The Queen happy birthday before presenting her with a hand-made book of photographs.

The mother-of-one first saw the Queen in 1974 while still at school and has been following her around ever since.

She was unable to put a figure on her spending over the years, but said it was probably "no more than some people spend on cigarettes".

She said: "It's a labour of love - either that or the onset of lunacy.

"You kind of get a bit hooked on it really. I find it more interesting to see people doing things for real rather than watching reports.

"There are plenty of people who traipse around the country watching 22 men kick a ball around for an hour and a half - they can hardly accuse me of being barmy."

Following many previous encounters, Mrs McCarthy-Fox is now recognised by the monarch at events.

"The first time she recognised me was about 15 years ago. We were on Eton Bridge in Windsor and there was a big group of tourists there. She asked people where they were from and, when it transpired they were tourists, she asked: 'Is anybody local around here?' Then she looked at me and said: 'I know you're local because you live in Horsham.'

"I was a bit astounded. It took me by surprise. I just wondered how she knew because I had never told her I was from Horsham."