As the news sinks in, with feelings of numbness but also gratitude, that HRH Queen Elizabeth II passed away this afternoon, my thoughts are that it is not long ago since she reached her milestone 70th Jubilee as British monarch. Like many, there has been some thinking back about any connections with her from years gone by. Pro-monarchy or not, I have always felt a certain level of connection to the Royal Family in that I went to a primary (elementary for any US readers) school adjacent to the Royal Estate at Sandringham. The estate has been traditionally been the place where the royal family gather for the Christmas period. There are many early memories as a child, which include having to sing alongside other school pupils in front of the Queen Mother, and Princess Diana waving at us as she slowly passed the school playground during break-time, on the odd occasion.
Below are some of my rather old photos of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, The Duke of Edinburgh, and some other Royals from some years ago, on one of their visits to St Lawrence’s Church, Castle Rising, Norfolk. The church is in the same parish as Sandringham:
I think I would be justified in saying that the past 48 hours have been particularly strange for the history of the UK insofar as two days ago, a frail, but smiling HRH was seen on television having just appointed a new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss. And so within the space of a few days, a new Monarch, Charles III, and a new leader of government.
Whilst new Prime Ministers have become more commonplace in recent timed since the days of Thatcher and Blair, after having a Queen on the throne for some 70 years, the concept of a new monarch is something most British people will not be familiar with (80% of the population have only known one monarch, according to some television reports). It is the end of the second Elizabethan age and one that has seen so many changes, to say much will be written about it in future history books could be an understatement.
I shall end on a quotation about death:
“I do not fear detah. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.“
MARK TWAIN (1835 – 1910)
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