Random Jottings

A Glorious Goodbye

My daughter is still with me but will be returning to Australia and I am already dreading the goodbye.  I am grateful however, and so is she, that she was in this country when the day came to say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth and to be part of the nation's sorrow.

On the Saturday before the State funeral we were in London to see the musical Grease. It was my youngest granddaughter's birthday and it was her chosen treat.  A packed matinee performance, noisy and happy who all fell silent when we were asked for a minute of silence before the show. The silence was instant and absolute.

Later on that day, after a meal with the family, Kathryn and I went for a walk along the Embankment.  I love this part of London and seeing the river. The buildings were lit up at night, and all of them were the colour purple in honour of the Queen. The lights along the bridge were also purple and as we looked across the river we could see the queue for the lying in state at Westminster Hall.

We are very good, us Brits, at self deprecation and modesty, brushing off anything good said about us and our country.  It seems that the vast majority of us downplay anything we do, patriotism and pride in the UK is viewed as being jingoistic and out of fashion.  The general media and the BBC seem to look for the negative and delight in doing so. 

So it is with enormous pride that I have witnessed the reaction to Her Majesty's death, the way 'ordinary' people have come out in their hundreds of thousands to express their love and appreciation for this tiny, grandmotherly women who most of us have never met and yet who seems to part of our family.   People of all ages, races, creeds and colour and background formed the queue and showed camaraderie and humour as they waited, some for two days. When asked why they were there the overwhelming majority said they just felt they had to be there, to say goodbye and thank you.  Many expressed the view, as I did in my last post, that the Queen had been a constant in their lives, she had always been there and she made them feel safe and secure. In a changing and sometimes horrible world and time, this is so reassuring.

Having watched royal occasions and weddings, and the Platinum Jubilee just this summer, I knew that the State funeral would be a glorious occasion and it was. I am not sure where to start or how to describe its beauty and grace.  The procession to Westminster Abbey, packed with overseas heads of state and Royalty, the incredible stamina of the bearer party who carried the coffin into the Abbey with such marvellous precision, the music, the glory of it all. Then the procession through London to Wellington Arch with the bands, the pipers and the coffin on a gun carriage drawn by Navy ratings. A drum beat, solemn and majestic, and the sound of the footsteps in perfect unison.

The royal hearse then set off to Windsor and people lined the route all the way with flowers being showered on it from all sides.  Then up the Long Walk to Windsor flanked with  a wonderful carpet of all the flowers left by the public at the gates. The day before they had all been taken inside and laid to form a long line.  A simple but remarkable tribute.

I found myself in tears many times throughout the day at the sheer beauty and solemnity of it all, but in the end, it was the small things that touch the heart.  Half way down the long walk was the Queen's favourite pony standing to say goodbye to her mistress, and two corgis waiting for Her Majesty on the steps.  At that stage the tears really flowed.  And then the moment when it was made clear that she was gone. The Orb and Sceptre and Imperial Crown which had sat on the top of the coffin were removed an placed on the altar of St George's chapel and at that moment they now belonged to our new King. The King, who has along with all his family, had held back grief, now looked as if he was on the verge of tears at this symbolic moment.

And, finally, as the coffin was slowly lowered to be interred below with the Queen's husband, father, mother and sister, the realisation that she was finally gone, really hit home. A lone piper played a lament and walked slowly away with the sound fading into the distance.

It was all over.

It is not very often I say I am proud to be British but on this day, or indeed for the last week, my heart has swelled with pride at the unashamed outpouring of grief and love we have shown and have been proud to show.  The pageantry and beauty of it all was sublime and yet in the midst of all the grandeur there was a feeling that it was deeply personal to each one of us and the hundreds and thousands of people lining the route, who visited in Westminster hall, who left flowers and who expressed their love.

And now today, the quiet of it all, the knowledge that we have been part of a truly historical moment and the realisation of our loss is real and I feel bereft.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth - Random thoughts

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.