It's 5:30am on September 9, 2022, and Melissa Stokes is woken by a phone call, which she thinks is her personal trainer cancelling the day's session.
In fact it was Melissa who had to cancel, instead being called in to work following the death of the longest-reigning British monarch in history.
"I just kind of jumped up, and felt myself shaking really."
"I knew that when the Queen died, we'd already talked about a plan of what would happen, so I knew that, potentially, I was going to be getting on a plane as soon as possible."
The morning the Queen died
7.35am, and then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is addressing the nation. Melissa's arrived at work, waiting to join Jenny-May Clarkson on the Breakfast couch to discuss the towering legacy left by The Queen.
"I rang a boss and said, "what do you want me to do?" She said, "can you come in?" So I think I was on Breakfast in the morning, then I did two-to-three hours of our rolling coverage."
1News offered rolling television coverage, switching out presenters all day, of which Melissa was one.
The conclusion of the day's coverage, however, was only the beginning of the story for Melissa.
Travelling to the United Kingdom
"Whipped home, packed a bag, and hopped on a plane, I think about 10 o'clock that night", Melissa recounts, along with a sense of "trepidation I guess".
"Nervousness, and just wanting to do a really good job.
"Because, you know, I felt really grateful to be trusted with the job of going to cover the Queen's death."
The team of reporters, producers and camera operators agreed to a one hour break at their hotel upon arrival, their first chance to shower since leaving New Zealand.
"We knew that we were going to have to be on-air the next day."
Melissa and the team hit that deadline, and every other deadline placed in front of them, reporting live from a time zone which couldn't be more opposite to New Zealand's.
It's a time zone Melissa is no stranger to, however, having served as TVNZ's Europe Correspondent from 2006 to 2008.
The Queen, the Officer, and the photograph
The TVNZ team was on the ground for much of the 10 days of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.
As they waded through oceans of mourners around the United Kingdom, one of the most unforgettable moments of the trip for Melissa was meeting Constable Robert Sellors.
Metropolitan Police Service officers had been directed to stand at attention and face away from the road as Her Majesty's procession passed.
PC Sellors was proud to be on-duty that day, but wasn't going to see the Queen's final journey.
Fortunately, he was standing close to Melissa, and as the Queen passed, she quickly snapped a photo of PC Sellors.
"You know I'm pretty sure he had tears in his eyes, because that really meant something to him, which therefore meant something to me in my storytelling."
In this instalment of The Story I'll Never Forget, 1News presenter Melissa Stokes talks about the story behind the Queen's death, how 1News covered it, and what it takes in a global breaking news story to bring the story home for a New Zealand audience.
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