Vale Queen Elizabeth II

“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service…”

She was a steadfast presence in all of our lives for the entirety of our lives. Stalwart, implacable, often smiling yet unknowable, and comforting in her example of what it means to truly carry on.

As photographs from the length and breadth of her 96 journeys around the sun flood our social media feeds, and the news is awash with rolling updates and nostalgia-sodden vintage footage, it’s hard not to be swept away in memories.

Her younger self, bedecked in ballgown, sash and crown, almost smiling (Mona Lisa-esque) serenely down on us from the wall of every community room, town hall, Sunday School gathering and CWA bake sale the length and breadth of this country.

Me standing with my schoolmates in straight lines on the asphalt, under a burning sun, all of us chanting “I honour my God, I serve my Queen, I salute the Flag,” before being called to “attennnn-tion” by the School Captain.

Christmas afternoons splashing in the swimming pool with cousins, only to be dragged back inside to listen to the Queen’s much-loved Christmas Day address. (Giggling in front of disapproving parents at our mistaken interpretation of what an “annus horribilis” actually was).

Those ubiquitous boxy skirt-suits (and matching hats, gloves, and handbags) in a rainbow array of bright colours. The pack of corgis that seemed never far behind, their fat bodies and funny, short little legs creating comedy around one so dignified.

Time and again - but particularly in difficult times - Queen Elizabeth II showed us that there was a still role for a truly dedicated monarch to play. Not perhaps to rule, or to govern, but to comfort, to provide stability, to reassure, and to inspire.

In the words of the oh-so-wise Paddington Bear, Thank you Ma'am. For everything.