9 September 2022
As the news broke last night, I found myself not huddled around a TV screen with colleagues in a busy newsroom, phones ringing, but instead among the stillness of my family.
A small voice cut through. “Is the Queen dead mummy?” Before long, I was answering 101 questions about what it would mean.
Last night, I went to bed thinking about my own grandparents who, sadly, we too have recently lost. Like the Queen, they had become great-grandparents, one affectionally known as “GG” (great grandma).
There is something remarkable about their generation. A generation of stoicism, years of wisdom and, certainly for us, endless love and dedication to the family.
As the Royal Family rushed to the Queen’s bedside, it reminded me of the dash my parents made to be with their parents when the time came.
They are what connected our family, brought us together and set the values by which we all live.
Losing the Queen is like losing a connection to that generation all over again.
The balance of the family shifts. We all move up a place on the family tree, but the traditional family values they set live on in us.
As we awake to a new King, the world reflects on the truly remarkable lady who was our Queen.
Thank you, Ma’am, for a lifetime of service and gratitude.