Jack - Sir Andrew, shortly before his untimely passing from pneumonia. He stood us a round more than once - as we looked after his personal Gazelle, XW855 that now resides in the Hendon museum.
Blacksheep -
Makes good sense.
"Mrs" - yes. We never put rank or title on the "VIP" board.
Makes even better sense.
Curiously enough, my mention of FM Carver reminds me of the occasion when, long after he had "retired", he was spending a day at sea as the guest of my Admiral and I was acting as his minder as he took a very informal, and unannounced, walk round the flagship. FM Carver was simply wearing his tanky's beret and dark trousers and a woolly pully with rather tired looking shoulder straps and, whilst we were enjoying a brew in the Stokers' Messdeck, he asked if any of them wanted to ask him any questions about his Service life.
No one did, until the leading hand of the mess felt he had to say something, cleared his throat and, looking at the rather unfamiliar shoulder straps with the combination of crown, laurel wreath and crossed batons (not hugely different from a Chief Petty Officer's cap badge), and said, "Aren't you a bit on the old side to be just a senior rate?"
Michael Carver merely smiled, and simply said that he would probably not have got that far if he had joined in the ranks!
On another occasion, I boarded a bus late one night in Whitehall, and it was only wehn I sat down that I realised that I was sitting beside a long "retired" Admiral of the Fleet, who may or not have been the son of a very distinguished artist. "Good, evening, Sir, " I politely ventured, to which he simply replied, without turning his head, "You ain't seen me, right?"
Jack