"The Queen Is Dead; God Save the King"

     Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England in 1953.

                                                                                    photo from Parade, online

I was nine years old and enchanted by the romantic aura of real-life characters from fairy tales. I watched the coronation on television and kept a scrapbook of coronation activities, smitten by the beautiful young queen and the ceremoniousness of her coronation.

    Six years later, when my family stopped in Victoria, BC, on our camping trip from Atlanta, Georgia, to Fairbanks, Alaska (see posts on February 4, 2017, June 30, 2017, and May 17, 2018), I saw the queen herself. Having just come from Butchart Gardens, the family happened to be in the crowd when Queen Elizabeth passed by in her car, waving the famous royal wave to the excited onlookers. I had out-grown the fairy-tale aspect of the royal family by then, but I was thrilled to see her in person, still young and beautiful.

    Between 1966 and 1968, living in England as a Marshall Scholar, I learned that one toasts the queen first when drinking wine—"To the Queen," followed by any other toast. Prince Charles, now King Charles, the patron of the Marshall Scholars, wasn't among the many dignitaries attending the welcoming reception when I arrived in London, but I was invited to a Marshall Scholars' reception for him in Washington, DC, years later. Alas, my budget didn't give me the means to travel across the country to meet a prince.

    Queen Elizabeth died on September 8.

                            At her Platinum Jubilee.               Getty images

I was two days off the trail, after a ten-day hike in the Dolomites, and would fly home the next day. I felt a twinge of personal sadness when I heard of her death. During a long layover at the Heathrow airport in London, I watched the large-screen TV, witnessing hundreds of people in mourning, thousands of flowers laid in honor, on-the-street interviews with people remembering their queen, a speech by King Charles, and many of the endless ceremonies and rituals attendant on the transferral of the crown to the new king. It was not unlike watching the coronation ceremonies of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.  

    Queen Elizabeth II, who lived long and reigned long, is dead. Long live King Charles. 

six years