Perhaps I'd get more attention if I put G-2 on the rear rack instead of in my map case.  I doubt it though, because, unlike a Hula Girl, G-2 is not at all physically appealing.

Greg those were fun times with the forum interactions with Journalist John and Pope Gregory.

For an avowed anti constitutional monarchist, and for someone with 75% non-English heritage, I’ve had far more than my share of being present at British royal events.
The most recent one was the most entertaining. 

My wife and I were visiting our son in London a couple of years ago, (no bikes this time) and the timing unintentionally coincided with the coronation of King Charles III. 

So of course, we wandered over to Trafalgar Square to gawk. We arrived just in time for an anti-Royal  protest to kick off. Police hurriedly erected riot barriers around Trafalgar Sq, enclosing us and a few hundred other tourists and a large media contingent.  

On the other side of the high barrier, hundreds of protesters were chanting in unison, “Free Graham Smith! Free Graham Smith!”  Really loud and in concert. Like English soccer crowds do.

‘That’s nice of them’,  I thought. But I was ok. Not detained and my wife and I could see the royal parade in the distance through the pouring rain.

The evening news on BBC TV revealed the truth. The other ‘Graham Smith’ being chanted for was the ‘Not My King’ protest leader;  and he’d been pre-emptively arrested a few days before on very flimsy legal grounds. My 15 minutes of infamy was a case of mistaken identity.

I’ve also ‘met’ Queen Camilla … before she was Queen … but that’s another story. 

I just remembered a 4th stranger I met who had read my journals. In 2017 in Atlantic City, New Jersey I met touring cyclist Ken Dyckman who is from Seattle. 

He and I both started our bike tours in Jacksonville, Florida. I first met him in the motel breakfast room. A day later I saw him on the boardwalk. He was biking and I was walking because I had already shipped my bike home. His helmet cam recorded our meeting on the boardwalk. His captivating video of the world's longest boardwalk includes a chance encounter with a "legendary distance rider" at 1:55.

The video shows me taking this picture of him.

If I had been there, I would have been the loudest shouter of "Free Graham Smith!"  I might even have continued chanting "Free Graham Smith" even after I learned it wasn't you. 

I can't speak for anybody else, but I would definitely like to hear the Camilla story. 

Greg this ‘meeting’ happened way back in 2012. And it did involve our bikes. My wife and cycled a few kilometres from our place to where we’d heard that a royal event was happening. It was a beautiful sunny morning here in Canberra. Not like drizzly London.

The now King Charles and Queen Camilla had different less lofty titles, and they came to our fair city as part of the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Celebrations. 

Their mission was to rename an unremarkable piece of road near my former workplace.

The then Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall officially opened the road in honour of his mum aka Her Majesty in a public ceremony involving a few politicians, hanger ons, the royals and my wife and me among the small crowd of gawkers. Security again was minimal and we were able to get within about 20 metres of the VIPs.

About half way through the speeches, Prince Charles went to sleep in his chair, but Camilla was very chirpy and did a great job of doing the meet and greet walk saying chatting to the gathered onlookers, which is Royal tradition. 

Once awake, Charles looked as if he really needed to go home to his palace for a long nap.

The new name of that stretch of asphalt is Queen Elizabeth Terrace, and since the 2012 ceremony, we’ve cycled along it many times.

Gregory, when I first read your post'n'question, I thought, "Well, depends..., but probably not."  Reading the various answers, though, I was pleased to see the idea of a "famous person" expanded enough to allow me to answer:  

Yep, nearing the end on my Amsterdam-to-Vienna ride in early October 2012, I paused on the bike path just outside the small town of Tülln to pay my respects to this fella:

I was surprised, I guess -- I knew he frequented these parts back in the day, just didn't expect to see him.  I managed to be stoic about it all, though.

Cheers,  John

Ah yes, I've met a few of those inanimate famous people as well, and sometimes I've gotten a little too enthusiastic over them.  I congratulate you on your stoicism while in the presence of Marcus Aurelius.

Here is a famous person I wish I met on the road. Unfortunately I'm too young.

This is 19 year old Clara Wilkes in 1915.

That's quite a load she's got there.  It reminds me of the gear I carried early in my bike touring career--before I became a minimalist.