Volunteers, teetotal, with queen meeting journalist, shabby (8)

I believe the answer is:

tattered

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'shabby' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'volunteers teetotal with queen meeting journalist' is the wordplay.
'volunteers' becomes 'TA' (abbreviation for Territorial Army).
'teetotal' becomes 'tt' (abbreviation).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'queen meeting' becomes 'er' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'ta'+'tt'+'er'+'ed'='TATTERED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tattered that I've seen before include "In poor condition" , "In rags" , "Old and torn" , "Torn and ragged" , "Torn irregularly like scarecrow's clothes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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