London was Queen Elizabeth II’s birth place, her home, and her return to the capital this week felt strangely like a family member returning to be laid to rest.
She will be lying-in-state in Westminster Abbey; our island’s historic place for King’s and Queen’s throughout the ages. And Southwark, London’s oldest borough, will be a major part of that.
As the nation and indeed the world mourns the loss of Her Majesty – the longest serving and now being proclaimed our greatest monarch by many. Hers was an extraordinary story, of a remarkable 96-year-old woman driven by duty, sustained by faith and kept happy by simple things in life, like the love of her family, her dogs and her horses.
READ OUR SPECIAL IN THIS WEEK’S SOUTHWARK NEWS – digital edition (click here)
She was from a generation that faced a World War like no other, and for many she was the only monarch we knew. In a world where there is so much that is bad and wrong, where the pages of our newspapers including our own and coverage on our screens is so often of death, destruction and difficulties – she has remained a force for good. A decent, discreet woman, a constant in an ever-changing world of celebrities, social media and a hunger for fame.
It is said up to a third of the nation at one point or other have met the Queen and in today’s paper, published exactly one week after she died, we hear from the people in Southwark who met her and the many more who were touched by her presence on the throne.
As the editor of the paper I have been in her presence on a couple of occasions, but never spoke to her. In my first meeting I was semi naked and yellow, as I was the eldest of twins born prematurely with jaundice at the newly built Guy’s Tower. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh came to open it and took time to visit the unit my sister and I were in – my mother was delighted when she commented about us: “Aren’t they sweet.”
It is in walk-about, visits and at official occasions spanning over 70 years that we as a nation got to know our monarch like never before. It was deeply moving that in the week she died she continued to fulfil her duties, saying goodbye to a Prime Minister and welcoming another and that same afternoon, her horse winning the 3.20 race at Goodwood. It was a wonderful end for a woman who enjoyed the simple things in life and was an exemplar of duty. To see her family, especially our new King, doing as she did all her life – carrying out his duty despite his obvious grief – sends out a message of integrity and consistency at a time when our country needs it.
Of course not everyone is as engaged in her passing, but most people are and over the coming days in Southwark we will witness queues of mourners on a route from Southwark Park, along the Thames, up the South Bank, and across Lambeth Bridge. It will take planning and patience, but we hope that residents will see it as privilege to be part of such a chapter in our history.
The Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said this week: “We are expecting extremely large queues that could go up to 30 hours. And it won’t be 30 hours for everybody, but I think it’s important that, before people set off, that they know just how long it could take, potentially. So we are supporting people through the queue, working with a number of partners like the Samaritans, the Red Cross – also having stewards there, as well, and working with the Metropolitan Police. So there’ll be over 1,000 people per day who will be on hand to support people, to offer them advice, guidance.”
We hope that it will be a time of bringing people together, as the Queen clearly managed to do throughout her long life and reign.