Flower offerings, hugs and candles in memory of “grandmother” Isabel
Families with young children, groups of friends, tourists hauling their travel bags, workers, students, housewives, retirees, city officials and other professionals flocked to the Buckingham Palace gates this Friday to pay tribute to Elizabeth II, the “global grandmother and queen.” died Thursday at her residence in Balmoral, in the Scottish Highlands, after a year of mild and slow physical decline.
The emotion has overwhelmed many visitors, who have burst into tears at the memory of the British monarch, constant stability and serenity in their lives. Roses, carnations and sunflowers have been dedicated to him, stuffed animals, sports shirts, framed photographs, pennants and hundreds of thousands of farewell and admiring notes have been left for him. Candles and torches burned on the floor. In the afternoon, the ringing of bells from nearby Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle and hundreds of other churches across the country marked the official start of ten days of national mourning.
In the afternoon, the new king gave an unexpected surprise to the masses concentrated next to Buckingham Palace. Carlos III, accompanied by his queen consort, Camila, personally greeted the audience, which erupted into cries of “God save the king.” His presence temporarily helped to cheer the spirits, although people really just wanted to express their condolences on the death of the beloved and admired 96-year-old matriarch.
“I feel a great sadness. She represents everything I know. I associate her with my mother, who is her age and still alive; I used to look at her as if she were my grandmother… and now we’ve lost her forever,” exclaims Sandra, after placing a bunch of flowers at the foot of the regal gate. Recently retired at age 67, and with a good command of the Spanish she studied decades ago, she identifies Elizabeth II as the “queen of the whole world.” “She was a worldwide queen. A force of stability and steadfastness for so long. Government leaders come and go, but she was always with us. And while it was a long reign, 70 years, his death is still shocking. We will miss her,” she said sadly.
Lines of people were constantly coming into the area, which is closed to road traffic. Some walked from Piccadilly through Green Park and others walked the royal promenade of The Mall, which connects the official London headquarters of the British monarchy with Trafalgar Square. With grim expressions and without raising their voices, they walked slowly through the several rows that formed through the fence, under the watchful eye of security and Scotland Yard agents. No one tried to sneak in and everyone eventually found a hole to put their memory in or a suitable view to take a ‘selfie’ with their cellphone.
Flower offerings are removed every 12 hours on some parts of the fence, a sign warns. The wooden frame with the official part of the death of the monarch, in turn, was framed between branches and crowns attached to the same rails. “He grew up with us. It’s part of our lives and it’s gone. It’s terrible. Very sad,” Paul sighs. He still wears the yellow vest and protective helmet of the construction guild and has lunch break used to pay tribute to the revered Isabel Camilla, 28, leaves a bouquet on behalf of her grandmother and the rest of her family, who live in central England. “They will come to watch the procession of the funeral procession,” explains he out.
At 1 p.m. local time (both in Spain), the monarch was fired with 96 salvos, one for each year of her life, launched from Hyde Park, the Tower of London and other emblematic spaces in the capital. The cannon shots also echoed in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Plymouth, Gibraltar, Jersey and other dependent areas of the Crown. Representatives from the Commonwealth – the club of 56 countries and states largely associated with the former British Empire – expressed their condolences to their royal president in emotional notes left outside the palace. “A stateswoman of incomparable integrity was the rock and champion of the Commonwealth,” read one.
“It is a sad day for the country. All British people loved her, even the anti-monarchists appreciated the Queen for her character and personality,” said Edward, a 20-year-old university student. He wears a ‘tweed’ jacket and black tie, as a sign of ‘respect’ for the matriarch of Windsor, who died in Balmoral Castle, sheltered by some of his descendants. A few days earlier, he had received the new prime minister, Liz Truss, in an audience and accepted the resignation of the previous head of government, Boris Johnson. The alarm for his health skipped the same Thursday, though the physical decline had been visible for nearly a year, when he suspended a trip to Northern Ireland of constitutional importance.
“It will be weird without the queen. Carlos has been preparing to become king for years, but it will still take time to get used to his government,” says the student of Politics and International Relations. Retired Sandra also thinks that the transition to the throne from mother to son will be difficult to digest. “Continuity is the pillar of the monarchy, but it will be very difficult for us to say king instead of queen,” he laughs. Yet he points to the many young people who flock to to Buckingham, Windsor and Balmoral, out of respect for the late Queen, as a sign of the ‘good health of the monarchy.’ “But we are going to miss the Queen’s judicious presence,” says Sandra.
For Olivia, an American in her twenties, Elizabeth II was an example of “courtesy throughout history.” “I don’t see it as the end of an era, but as the disappearance of a great international figure who has been with us for a long time. She was everyone’s grandmother,” she says. Evandre Beckford, an operating room assistant at a London hospital, emphasizes the Queen’s “devotion to duty” and the responsibility she has faced all her life. “He carried the country on his own terms. shoulders,” compares this young man who always thought the queen would live to be a hundred years old or more.
Maggie has bought almost all the papers for the day and is looking for a copy of the free Metro, which also has a special insert dedicated to the missing lady. “Our hearts are broken,” the Daily Mail headlined on its front page. “A life of service,” The Times acknowledged. ‘Thank you ma’am,’ said City Am. ‘I am sad, but at the same time relieved for her. Now she will be able to forget the troubles and disappointments caused to her by some members of her family and she will be reunited with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh,” warns this woman in her forties. He acknowledges the end of the second Elizabethan era, after the death of a “brilliant woman”, and would shorten the monarchical change so that the crown would go directly to William. “He has more empathy and social skills than his father, Carlos. We need a modern monarchy.”
Source: La Verdad
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