The last few weeks have been difficult for me personally. My sister has been in the hospital with pneumonia and at times hasn’t been doing so well. On top of that, I’ve had a really bad cold the last week or so. Just feeling miserable. At one point, I honestly thought I might have strep throat it was so sore. I’m feeling much better now but still have good days and bad days. Even on the bad days, though, I’ve been more worried about my sister than myself because it really was just a cold.
Then came the news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away. It was one of those things that wasn’t completely unexpected and yet still managed to shock everyone. I’ve been watching as much of the stuff related to that as I can simply because it’s interesting from a historical perspective. But, oddly, the confluence of these completely separate events got me to thinking about when, exactly, my own fascination in the British royal family actually began.
My sister is almost exactly 12 years older than me. When I was around 11 years old, she was living in England because her first husband was stationed there in the Air Force. They were there about 3 years and during that time the Investiture of the Prince of Wales for Prince Charles happened. (I think that’s what it’s called, anyway.) With all the accompanying pomp and ceremony. So I remember getting this enormous package from England with all these newspaper clippings and odds and ends related to the event. It was not a small package, let me tell you.
Ever since then I’ve been hooked on the royals. Not so much in a major fan way as just keeping an eye out for news. And always following the pomp and ceremony like what’s going on this week. Also, for years The Royals have been something my sister and I will talk, okay, gossip about. Something that we were both interested in that didn’t involve family or politics or any other drama. So, yeah, this week has brought back some memories. And some introspection.
Queen Elizabeth lived an amazingly long life and had a reign that encompassed a lot of our more recent history. She will be missed on the world stage and by her immediate family. I think she will also be greatly missed in Britain. More so than the British people might have expected. I am so sorry for their loss.
The following is from the first article I found after the announcement of her death became official: