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.\u00a0 \u00a0When 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.<\/p>\n
So I sit here and reflect on the years that I have followed the royals.\u00a0 \u00a0When I went to elementary school we said the Lord’s Prayer and we sang God Save the Queen.\u00a0 It ages me for sure, but I remember it well.<\/p>\n
She is 96 and her health has been an issue for a while now.\u00a0 \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n
She is the longest reigning Monarch in history.\u00a0 Her life story has been fascinating to me.\u00a0 To think of how young she was when she first took the throne.\u00a0 And in doing so, it meant her father had to die.<\/p>\n
She grew into the role and although not perfect, I believe she has shown great strength and compassion in all she has done.<\/p>\n
I may have held a grudge for a while with her treatment of Princess Diana.\u00a0 That one stung a bit.\u00a0 \u00a0The royal life is complicated for sure and Diana liked to rebel a bit and was trying to change things up a bit.\u00a0 I don’t think the Queen liked that much.\u00a0 This whole way of life with the royals is something both intriguing and annoying.\u00a0 It’s bizarre to think of kings and queens, and princes and princesses.\u00a0 Crowns and royal jewels.\u00a0 It irks people and for some of us, we are just in awe of it all.<\/p>\n
I can’t help it.\u00a0 I’ve had a fondness for them all.\u00a0 I watched the wedding of Charles and Di.\u00a0 I cried so many tears when she died.\u00a0I bought the beanie baby after she died.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Tragedy has a way of bringing people together.<\/p>\n
I just watched Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts, on the weekend.\u00a0 \u00a0I loved it.\u00a0 A documentary about the life of Queen Elizabeth II.\u00a0 We see her life in sections.\u00a0 Clips of her life woven together.\u00a0 We see the professional and we see the person she is beneath it all.\u00a0 The smile.\u00a0 The humour.\u00a0 The sadness.\u00a0 A brilliant way to look at her life.\u00a0 In parts.<\/p>\n
70 years on the throne.\u00a0 How incredible is that.\u00a0 The longest-lived, longest-reigning British monarch and longest-serving female head of state in history.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts is available no on\u00a0 Prime Video.<\/p>\n
I know that it will be hard to say goodbye to the Queen.\u00a0 I can’t imagine what life will be like with Charles as King?\u00a0 If that’s what will or would happen? King Charles.\u00a0 How odd.<\/p>\n
My thoughts are with the Royal Family and I am hoping for a positive outcome.<\/p>\n
****UPDATE****<\/p>\n
As of 1:42 this afternoon, news is breaking that Queen Elizabeth II has died.\u00a0 Peacefully.\u00a0 At a place she loved to be.\u00a0 Balmoral Castle. Charles becomes King. We think.\u00a0 We wait and see.\u00a0 Funeral will happen in 10 days and the world grieves.\u00a0 I sit with tears in my eyes as I type this.\u00a0 In disbelief.\u00a0 \u00a0Heartbroken for her family.\u00a0 To her she was mummy and grandma.\u00a0 They will need time to process this enormous loss.<\/p>\n
So incredibly sad.\u00a0 Somehow, it seemed like she would live forever.<\/p>\n