Latham preschool assistant Karen Vey was overcome with emotion even before the ACT government representative had finished telling her she had been randomly selected to see the British royals at the National Arboretum in Canberra later this month.
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''She was on the line saying, 'It's the ACT government and we would like to …' and I just started screaming,'' Mrs Vey said, with a laugh.
''And she just said, 'Yes, you have. Yes, you have.'''
What she had done was become one of 250 lucky Canberrans to see Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge - and maybe baby Prince George - up close at either the Fairbairn air base when they arrive in Canberra on April 20, Easter Sunday, or the National Arboretum Canberra on April 24.
Mrs Vey and her 10-year-old son Harry will be among the smaller group at the arboretum, just 50 of the selected 250, who will see the royal couple plant an English oak tree.
Both events are closed to the public.
They are feeling particularly fortunate given more than 12,500 people applied to be among the chosen 250, via a ballot held by the ACT government.
''I didn't even think it would happen,'' she said.
Mrs Vey, 39, an assistant at Watson preschool, said she hoped to have a little exclusive tete-a-tete with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
''I hope I can talk to them and stand up close,'' she said.
The mother of two, whose husband Brett works as a horticulturalist at the United States embassy and reckons he can trace his family back to William the Conqueror, has always been a royal fan.
''When I was little, I had a scrapbook of Fergie and Andrew's wedding,'' she said. ''Every photograph, in every magazine, I cut out.''
Harry - who sometimes gets called Prince Harry - will be happily by mum's side for the big event.
Big brother Dylan, 12, apparently reckoned he would give it a pass.
And Mrs Vey will have the ultimate show-and-tell story for her preschoolers when she gets back to work.
Those who missed out in the ballot will still be able to be catch a glimpse of the royal couple, or be among the throng outside, when they visit the National Portrait Gallery and Parliament House on April 24 and the national Anzac Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on April 25.
After their arrival in Canberra on April 20, they will have a rest day in the national capital on April 21 and be at Uluru on April 22, followed by a visit to Adelaide on April 23 before they return to the ACT.
