Remembering Queen Elizabeth II

Today is one of those days where a news headline grabs you and you can feel change is coming and not in a good way.   When I got to work this morning and one of the first headlines I saw was that family was gathering around Queen Elizabeth and there were concerns over her health I knew that was not good.

So I sit here and reflect on the years that I have followed the royals.   When I went to elementary school we said the Lord’s Prayer and we sang God Save the Queen.  It ages me for sure, but I remember it well.

She is 96 and her health has been an issue for a while now.   I know it’s unrealistic to think the Queen will live forever, but honestly, I can’t imagine a world without Queen Elizabeth because she has always been Queen as long as I’ve been alive.

She is the longest reigning Monarch in history.  Her life story has been fascinating to me.  To think of how young she was when she first took the throne.  And in doing so, it meant her father had to die.

She grew into the role and although not perfect, I believe she has shown great strength and compassion in all she has done.

I may have held a grudge for a while with her treatment of Princess Diana.  That one stung a bit.   The royal life is complicated for sure and Diana liked to rebel a bit and was trying to change things up a bit.  I don’t think the Queen liked that much.  This whole way of life with the royals is something both intriguing and annoying.  It’s bizarre to think of kings and queens, and princes and princesses.  Crowns and royal jewels.  It irks people and for some of us, we are just in awe of it all.

I can’t help it.  I’ve had a fondness for them all.  I watched the wedding of Charles and Di.  I cried so many tears when she died. I bought the beanie baby after she died.  I have loved watching her beloved boys grow up and have families of their own. I always felt a connection to them since I too lost family in a car accident when I was 18.  Tragedy has a way of bringing people together.

I just watched Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, on the weekend.   I loved it.  A documentary about the life of Queen Elizabeth II.  We see her life in sections.  Clips of her life woven together.  We see the professional and we see the person she is beneath it all.  The smile.  The humour.  The sadness.  A brilliant way to look at her life.  In parts.

70 years on the throne.  How incredible is that.  The longest-lived, longest-reigning British monarch and longest-serving female head of state in history.

Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts is available no on  Prime Video.

I know that it will be hard to say goodbye to the Queen.  I can’t imagine what life will be like with Charles as King?  If that’s what will or would happen? King Charles.  How odd.

My thoughts are with the Royal Family and I am hoping for a positive outcome.

****UPDATE****

As of 1:42 this afternoon, news is breaking that Queen Elizabeth II has died.  Peacefully.  At a place she loved to be.  Balmoral Castle. Charles becomes King. We think.  We wait and see.  Funeral will happen in 10 days and the world grieves.  I sit with tears in my eyes as I type this.  In disbelief.   Heartbroken for her family.  To her she was mummy and grandma.  They will need time to process this enormous loss.

So incredibly sad.  Somehow, it seemed like she would live forever.

What happens next?   

Expect a funeral in the next 10 days and Charles to take over as King.  Hard not to think of Princess Diana right now.   Knowing she would have been our Queen.

A heartbreaking day and nope, I don’t feel okay.  I expect more tears through the next few days as I look through articles and read news headlines.   There will never be another like her.  I’m sure she is with her husband and is in Heaven free of pain, smiling, looking down on all of us shedding tears for her and grieving the loss.  I hope she knows she was appreciated and made a difference in the world.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan