My only encounter with Queen Elizabeth II was at a great distance at Trooping the Colour in 1986. The distance was so great that my photos reveal a group of people who could be anyone standing on the balcony at Buckingham Palace (so I borrowed a photo from 1986 for this blog).
It was her 60th birthday celebration. Diana and Charles were there with the small boys that are still making the news. Not that it was a simpler time–it is so annoying when that comment is made–but there was so much the world didn’t know.
Maybe that is what is momentous about the death of someone like Queen Elizabeth. Very few knew her personally, but she was a somewhat permanent cultural fixture. When someone devotes her life to upholding an image, whether you agree with the image or the decisions she made, her sudden absence demands to be noticed.
Let’s all have a cup of tea and remember her. There will never be another queen with such a broad and unique influence.
