Goodbye Queen, Hello King

Hello everyone. We didn’t expect to lose The Queen this week, but there it is.

Rest in peace Queen Elizabeth II, the only monarch I’ve known in my lifetime (not that I knew her, of course. I think I saw her in her car in Windsor on her way to Ascot once and I saw her at Wimbledon). I am curious to know how she died and I wonder if we’ll ever know. I don’t think you can put “died peacefully” on a death certificate and even “old age” should only be used in very limited circumstances. She was lucky in that she seemed relatively sharp in mind up until the end. Did she consciously decide to stay in Scotland to die? Was that her final duty as a way of unifying Great Britain? I wonder. Everything seems to have been meticulously planned already and all the arrangements for the succession and the associated TV coverage have been superb at such short notice. The new King Charles III has stepped up to the mark and is doing his new job with the necessary stoicism and commitment worthy of his predecessor. He looks calm but I imagine he is in shock, running on adrenaline for now. How do I know how it feels to be a member of the royal family?! I have absolutely no idea.

I usually have mixed feelings about the monarchy, but on the passing of The Queen I do feel she represented the best of Britishness. We do pomp and circumstance, tradition, extremely well and it’s something to be proud of. By next month I may be embarrassed by them all again and I’ll go back to “just how much is all of this costing….?”

When they announced The Queen’s death it was a surreal moment. I was with my Mum in the lounge of her care home in Windsor, with a fantastic view of the castle. The residents around me were either so confused they knew nothing of what was going on, or, like my Mum, they were following the news with great interest and they could also reminisce about the day The King died. On the day The King, George VI, died, my Mum was in London for a job interview as a young teacher. She said the whole of London and the tube was eerily quiet. She got the job.

My Mum was impressed on Thursday evening to immediately see the flag on the castle flying at half mast. I’ve zoomed in on this photo and it now seems to resemble a painting.

“Not many people get to see this view now, like this” she said. And then we noticed the beautiful, poignant rainbow, before most people saw it in the press. The castle is to the right of this.

After this, on Saturday I think, the flag went up to the top of the pole again, for the proclamation of King Charles III. I believe it’s now gone back to half mast again now in honour of The Queen. We tried to take a look earlier, but it’s hard to see the flag at all when it’s not windy and today’s been very calm.

God Save The King! (Still sounds weird).. the beginning of the second Carolean age. (The Carolean age was only referred to as such under Charles II, so 3 x King Charles but only the second Carolean age. Got that?). And another 2 kings to come after this… William and then George. There’s not going to be a British Queen again for a VERY long time. At least it’s cool enough to wear a busby again!