The Queen’s death came as a shock to us, like for most other people I imagine. We drove to London on Saturday and on Saturday evening at 9pm we joined the queue for the lying in state. It took exactly 12 hours to reach Westminster to pay our respects. Like many people around me, I too had tears in my eyes when I exited Westminster. At the lying in state there were so many people, of different faiths as it was visible from their religious symbols, and of different nationalities as I heard people speaking in many different languages.
Sunday afternoon we went to Green Park with a bunch of flowers. It was incredibly moving to see so many people there, looking at the flowers, admiring the drawings the children made. We picked up a bunch that was colourful as we felt it represented the Queen’s love of bright colours for her outfits.
On Monday we went to the funeral procession in London. We considered Windsor, but we did not have enough time to reach Windsor and get a spot from where we could see anything. We took our stop 3 hours before the funeral procession was due to pass. We saw the King passing in his car and people started to applaud, we also saw other members of the Royal family passing by as they were going to Westminster Abbey. The religious ceremony was transmitted by radio, which was nice, so we could all hear what was happening.
We watched on the phone the procession on the Long Walk at Windsor, as we were still on our way back to the hotel at that point. I am happy I was able to attend these events and to mark in a very small way the death of the Queen. I hope seeing all that love will help the King and the Royal family in their mourning.
I don’t know how I missed this when you posted. I must have been traveling. Thank you for sharing the link (again) and the photos. It sounds like something I would have done and such a memorable and moving experience.
Well done for braving the queues and crowds! I knew I couldn’t deal with either!
My sister, in her job, actually ending up driving the premier of your country of birth for the funeral! She said it was a real honour to be involved but she was very nervous!
The way the floral tributes were displayed along the Long Walk at Windsor, was just beautiful and must have been an amazing sight when seen from above. It must have taken hours of diligent work to get it looking so perfect and in such straight lines. 🙂
Yes, the flowers were so beautifully displayed on the long walk. It was incredibly how many people were in Green Park with flowers or just there to read the messages and see the flowers.
HIMARS are fantastic. I was thinking of buying a T-shirt with a HIMARS on it, the design is lovely (made by Ukrainians, raising funds for the military). The demand for HIMARS will surely grow, as their efficacy is incredible. Fascinating to see where these are made too, thank you for sending the link. xx
It’s been quite an event! I’ve found it interesting how much respect has been shown all around, even by those who are not royalists. That says a lot about the late Queen.
I’ve missed seeing you here, so I was glad to find this post today.
Kelly recently posted…Barn Sale and a spin
I took a break from blogging and social media while the country was in mourning. I only used twitter, which is filled with pro-Ukrainian stuff and comments on the war, a bit of NAFO work too.
It was so unusual to attend these events. Even from the tube it was clear who was going to queue for the lying in state, for example, dressed in black with a bag of snacks and drinks, and really thick clothes for a cold night spent outside, standing up. It was a strange feeling.
I rarely use Twitter anymore, but did go there just the other day to post something and saw you were still active there.
I guess the next “big” event will be the coronation. It will be interesting to see how the role of the monarchy plays out in the future.
Kelly recently posted…Barn Sale and a spin
Yes, I’m active on twitter. Before the invasion I was using twitter less as I thought it was too negative, but it’s a good tool for disinformation and I’m doing my bit to help Ukraine.
The coronation will be amazing, I am looking forward to it.
Here’s what I tweeted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUEDRKLbKZU
It might interest you. They’re manufactured in my neck of the woods.
Kelly recently posted…Barn Sale and a spin