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A Grateful Nation

For the past few days, I have had a small window open on my computer showing the stream of those filing by the coffin of Her Late Majesty. I find it strangely moving.

Some bow, some curtsey, come bless themselves (in both the Roman and Eastern manners), a North American Indian in a magnificent headdress raised his arm solemnly, while others simply file by in silence.

Why did they all come? And wait so long? It's not as though they knew the Queen. (Those that did appear to need bodyguards and a convoy of tanks disguised as motorcars).

Of course, many wanted to say goodbye to someone who had been part of their lives for as long as they can remember. Others simply wanted to be "part of the moment." 

I think almost everyone recognises this as a major landmark in their lives and in the country's history. 

A new monarch will mean great change. Change of style, emphasis, and even values. The King has already stated that he will work to continue his mother's way of reigning, but, of course, he can't. He is a different person from a different generation. His experiences are far different from hers and his vision of the world will be far different, too.

What he can maintain are her values.

I think this is what the long queues were about. People, largely devoid of faith (if the media is to be believed) will latch on to whatever else is going, as Chesterton more eloquently said. Yet, while we have moved from faith to disbelief to unbelief (where people no longer even know what they don't believe in), the people in these lines illustrate an awareness and valuing  of certain personal characteristics: dignity, integrity, steadfastness, conviction, as well as compassion, humility, duty and service - all of which Elizabeth II embodied.

Millions have watched and will watch the machinery of mourning and the funeral until the last commentator finally runs out of words. This is an expression of more than respect for the Queen, but an indication of the need to know that some things do not change, that there is some stability in their world, and that there is a need for ritual.

For all those things, the nation is rightly expressing its gratitude.

As I have written in one of my novels, rituals give us something to do when we feel we can do nothing. It is also important to carry out these rituals properly as they are the last things we will ever do for the person we loved and now mourn.


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