As my regular readers know I have been absent from Random Jottings for most of the summer as my daughter Kathryn has been here on an extended visit from Australia. She will be going home in the next few weeks and as it was September, that time of year when autumn sets in and the nights draw in, I felt that I would kick start the 'new term' by posting here.
Of course my intended post has gone out of the window in the light of the death of our beloved Queen this week. The glorious Platinum celebrations earlier this year were joyous and wonderful and I think most of us knew that perhaps this was the last hurrah and that the end was near. However, though we knew in our hearts this was the case, we always hope. We hoped it would go on a little longer.
My mother died twelve years ago at the age of 98. She was sharp and bright and funny right to the end with no lingering illness for which I am eternally grateful. Whenever she went out, even if it was just to the local shop, or nipping in to see a friend, she was always smartly dressed and turned out. Once she had to be admitted to hospital and while waiting for the ambulance made me get her best nightie ready and give her a lipstick so she could look good. There have been many times when friends have said to me 'your mum reminds me of the Queen'.
I miss my mum and always will. When I heard that the Queen had died I cried and the first person I thought of was my mother. I felt as if I had lost her all over again and, from reading various articles in the press today, many others have had such a triggered response recallling the death of a loved one.
The Queen was always there. She has been there all my life. As has my mother. We were an army family and I remember we were stationed abroad at the time of the Coronation and I can recall being dressed in a gingham dress and my plaits being finished off with red, white and blue striped ribbons. I can't say I was totally sure what was going on, I was just five years old, but I do remember those ribbons to this day.
It is difficult for the younger generation to view the Queen as anything but middle aged or old, but when she was young she was simply beautiful and she and Philip made the most incredibly glamorous couple. They were idolised. The Duke of Edinburgh very wisely said, later in life, that 'the adulation was incredible" but you had to not let it overwhelm you and take it personally or else you would be in trouble. Neither of them did.
People, young and old, have said they are bewildered by the grief they feel for someone we did not know. But we DID know her felt that she would always be there to support and comfort us. I feel an enormous sense of loss and sadness and I have found myself on the verge of tears for most of the last two days.
I watched King Charles (how odd that sounds after all these years) address the nation this evening in a deeply moving and thoughtful speech paying tribute to his mother. He pledged, as his mother had done all those years ago, to serve us and work for us as long as God allowed. He paid tribute to his family and announced that William and Kate are now the Prince an Princess of Wales. He also expressed his love for Harry and Meghan in one simple sentence which will surely now go round the world and must bring to an end all the rancour and bitterness. If they ignore it, I fear their lives will be bleak.
I know he will be a good King. After all, he has had the greatest example in front of him all his life.
The funeral next week will, I know, be a superbly organised and moving occasion and will give us all a chance for a final goodbye.
I shall miss her.
