It’s hard to believe it has been a year since Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was farewelled in a state funeral to end all state funerals after her death on September 8th 2022. I knew of the Queen all my life. It wasn’t until Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement in late 2010 that I took a genuine vested interest. I watched the wedding in April 2011. I remember waiting to see Catherine stumble over her husband’s name like Diana did with Charles. She didn’t, and it was magnificent.
For many years, I watched their family expand with the births of their three incredible children. Eldest son, Prince George, in 2013; their only daughter, Princess Charlotte, in 2015; and youngest son, Prince Louis, in 2018. The five of them were so close to Her Majesty The Queen. There are photos of them with her and many of the other great-grandchildren.
Her Majesty’s death served as a time of reflection as the world came to terms with going on with her. Myself included. She was the only British monarch I had never grown up knowing about. While I am not a full-fledged monarchist, I am also not a Republican. I carry the ideology of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
A Year Ago – Where I Was When I Learned Of Queen Elizabeth II’s Death
I remember witnessing the coverage of the hours leading up to The Queen’s passing unfold live on Twitter. It was late, and I was in bed with my laptop, absently scrolling through my feed. I kept seeing news reports about something happening, but it was hard to determine what. Then, the press release that the monarch’s doctors were worried about her declining health. Photos of her meeting with the then-new Prime Minister Liz Truss had been released the day before. Little did we know at the time, they would be the last images of Her Majesty the world would ever see.
Then came the news that members of the royal family were on the way to Balmoral. Charles, Camilla and Anne were already there. The confusion came when it was revealed that Meghan Markle would be going too, but this was later retracted to say she was not going. Catherine did not go, nor did the other grandchildren or their spouses.
The only royal spouses there were Sophie, the then-Countess of Wessex because she and the Queen were very close, and Camilla, the then-Duchess of Cornwall, as she was there already. Charles and Anne were the only children of the four to see their mother before she passed. Andrew and Edward got there late. Princess Anne put out a statement confirming she was there and had spent the last 24 hours with her mother.
Hours passed, and no one knew what was going on. By the time I found out, it was the early morning in Australia as I’d woken up and checked my phone for updates. Her Majesty The Queen had died aged 96. Before I had gone to sleep, I had an eerie feeling I’d wake up and she was gone. I hated being right.
Returning Queen Elizabeth II To England For Her State Funeral
The next ten days turned into the longest ten days of my entire life. The coverage was neverending. After a few days, I started to grow anxious, but I soldiered on in honour I respected so profoundly. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. Queen Elizabeth broke a lot of barriers. I had never covered such a long event, let alone a monarch period for a public figure before, so it was a new process for me.
Princess Anne finally accompanied her mother as her body was returned to England from Scotland. The one touching moment was the Vigil of the Grandchildren, where all eight of Queen Elizabeth’s grandkids stood together around her coffin as it lay in state at Westminster Hall. Regardless of the family drama, it was nice to see that all tensions were put aside for the woman they called “Grannie.”
I always thought it must’ve been excellent for The Queen not to be addressed so formally by her family when she was in private. She was a wife, grandmother, aunt, great-aunt, great-grandmother, mother-in-law, and grandmother-in-law. To her family, she was not the monarch. She was so much more.
Family Tributes
As the days ebbed on, I remember seeing the online tributes to The Queen from the royal social media accounts, including Princess Eugenie, who posted on behalf of her and her sister, Princess Beatrice.
The Queen’s children also did their vigil, marking the first time a daughter had been included. The last time a vigil had been done like this had been the Vigil of the Princes at the 2002 funeral of The Queen Mother, which included her grandsons, Charles, Andrew, Edward and David Armstrong-Jones. The tradition had started with the death of King George V, where his four living sons had stood guard over their father’s coffin. This was not done for King George VI as he had no sons, and the only grandchildren he had at the time were Charles and Anne, both toddlers.
Outside of the British royals, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark had to cut the celebrations for her Golden Jubilee short to mourn the passing of her beloved cousin. King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia issued a statement about their “Aunt Lilibet.” Princess Elisabeth of Belgium visited the British Embassy in Brussels and signed a condolence book. Also, Queen Rania of Jordan spoke to ITV about how Queen Elizabeth was the Queen of the World.
The Response Of The People
The British people pulled together in the time of grief that they all shared. Before the funeral, as the coffin was laid in state, millions of people filed into Westminster Hall to say their final farewells to the only monarch most had ever known. Though, there were a few famous queue jumpers, which ticked the public off. However, some, like David Beckham, chose to stand in line for hours.
When The Republican Movement In Australia Pounces
Australia is getting further away from the monarchy. While support for Australia becoming a republic has grown, it seems these people took the death of Queen Elizabeth last year as the right time to call for a cutting of the ties.
However, they needed better timing. The announcement of the Queen’s passing had only been out in the Ether a few hours, and the Republican movement felt it was the right time to push their agenda. They’ve claimed they love the Queen, but her death should end Australia’s association with the British monarchy.
My question has always been, how can you claim to admire someone but then turn around and denounce their hard work of decades? Also, calling for a referendum hours after the monarch died is incredibly disrespectful. How would they like it if one of their relatives had died and someone said they would be forgotten? They’d be pretty ticked and have no appreciation of
The Family Grieves Together
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was supposed to be a family affair shared by the world. With multiple church services and the appearance of a certain duchess who did nothing for Her Majesty but make her final years a living hell, the family gathered and grieved, but not in the way you’d expect.
While in private, the family likely shed tears, but in the open, they had to remain stoic, especially the king, who barely kept it together. His showing what emotion he can shows he has a heart and greatly loves his mother.
At one service, Mike Tindall, the husband of Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara, looked like he wanted to deck Prince Harry. Then we had the prince’s wife do such a low curtsey to show off the shoe designer on the bottom of her shoe, knowing full well that she had trashed The Queen on Netflix, a show that would be released a few months later. She even smirked behind the head of the Princess of Wales.
As the coffin was pulled past the female royals at the funeral, the then-Countess of Wessex, Sophie, threw Harry’s wife a dirty look before they were required to do their combined curtsey out of respect for their late matriarch. The women also formed a guard around the Wales children in attendance. Moreover, the wife did her “tear, left eye, go!” routine several times. She didn’t care. She only wanted sympathy.
The Queen was laid to rest at Windsor Castle alongside her late parents and her sister, Princess Margaret. Prince Philip was moved from the royal vault to his wife’s final resting place.
