Hours earlier than Buckingham Palace introduced the loss of life of Queen Elizabeth, my companion and I had been revisiting a chunk of journalism revealed by the Guardian in 2017 that outlines in nice element the key plan of precisely what is going to occur after the Queen dies.
“The most elaborate plans are for what happens if she passes away at Balmoral, where she spends three months of the year,” it learn, referring to the Queen’s property in Scotland. After her physique lies in state in Edinburgh, the Guardian reported, “the coffin will be … put on board the Royal Train at Waverley station for a sad progress down the east coast mainline.” Authorities anticipated a wave of nationwide mourning within the UK. “Crowds are expected at level crossings and on station platforms the length of the country … to throw flowers on the passing train.”
Neither considered one of us is de facto positive precisely what it was about this final picture — 1000’s ready at prepare stations throughout the UK to throw flowers at a passing prepare — however we had been each briefly overcome with tears. The tears didn’t return once more till a BBC announcer emotionally reported that the Queen had died at Balmoral in Scotland. Immediately, I imagined crowds of individuals dropping what they had been doing — work? faculty? — to make their option to their native station and await their alternative to provide their very own bouquets.
I’m not a monarchist. I grew up in Sudan, a former British colony that gained independence in 1956, 4 years into Elizabeth’s reign. The British had been, for a lot of my childhood, the chief villains in Sudan’s historical past. I now reside in Canada, the place the Queen was our head of state; her image hangs in faculties and in authorities buildings. In both case, the monarchy has not performed a major a part of my life. To grow to be a Canadian citizen, I needed to swear an oath to the Queen, however that’s in regards to the extent of our relationship. I, like many Canadians, am benignly ambivalent in regards to the monarchy.
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