It was like any Thursday at the end of summer. In Parliament, the new PM argued with the Leader of the Opposition. Cricket was rained off. Business as usual.
Then the announcement from the Palace: “The Queen ’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health.” The nation held its breath, hoped beyond hope.
But at 6.30pm they broke it to us. At her beloved Balmoral, the Queen had left us.
Our heads knew this day would come but our hearts were broken.
For most of us, she is the only ruler we have known. A constant.
A woman who linked us to a vanished Britain, the tumult of the post-war period.
Our spirit lived in her, through her calm, her determination. The love felt around the world for her was the love felt for Britain.
The second Elizabethan era is over. The end of the old days, the beginning of the new.
King Charles is charged with the care of the nation now.
He has pledged himself to us, to serve with loyalty, respect and love. And we welcome him and offer our condolences on the death of his mother.
We’ll remember her.
She is sewn into the fabric of the country, in the everyday: post boxes, coins, stamps.
Her name will live on in street names, schools, hospitals.
Not just here, but all over the world. An observatory in Canada, a sports centre in New Zealand, an esplanade in France.
She will be with us for ever. At the Cenotaph, in Parliament, at the Trooping the Colour.
And in the heart and mind of each schoolchild who reads about her in the history books. For ever.
A century hence, they will learn of Elizabeth, whose life was devoted to service, devoted to a nation that was devoted to her.
Learning not just the facts of her life but the nature of her character – her values of stillness and calm in a turbulent world.
“I cannot lead you into battle,” she told us in 1957, “I do not give you laws or administer justice.
“But I can do something else.
“I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”
She did. All her life.
We thank you, Your Majesty, from these old islands and beyond.
This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.
