History stepped into the inevitable and yet shock fluttered its wings. Queen Elizabeth II passed away. This a polite phrase used to soften the harshness of reality. The Queen had freed one’s horses, had taken her last breath. This event occurred on the 8th September 2022, when crown orb and sceptre were loosened from her hold. This monarch, the second longest reigning monarch in the world, after Louis XIV, served the united nation of Britain for seventy years against Louis’s seventy-two. He became king aged four. Some may argue that you can’t rule at age four, but try telling a four-year-old that. To be more precise, a four-year-old in the 2020’s. Children who lived a long time ago were seen and not heard. Louis XIV fell heir to the crown of France aged four and held onto it until he was seventy-six therefore his reign, whether or not he was in charge throughout, lasted seventy-two years. He also died in September but in the year of 1715. It seems to me that someone who has two hundred personal servants and lots of money, made through taxes, had more chance back then of living to age seventy-six, than the French peasants dotting the land. The French came to realise this as you may remember.
The British Queen also had people looking after her. They were called ladies-in-waiting and she also lived a long life. She was ninety-six when she died. She died at Balmoral in the highlands of Scotland, which was her holiday home. Some would call it a palace. Do you think she went there to die? If this was her intention, travelling there after her platinum jubilee celebrations, that is seventy years on the throne, who are we to criticize? The reason I say this is because I know how beautiful the Scottish land is. It is craggy and green and has lots of lochs, one homing a monster called the Loch Ness Monster. This beast is portrayed as a plesiosaurus, a water dwelling dinosaur with four fins, a short tail and a long serpentine neck. Loch Ness has the most amount of water than any other Scottish lochs and in fact contains nearly double the amount of water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. The temperature does not often rise above 5% Celsius which I should warn you is enough to freeze off your… toes.
The Queen lay in state, firstly, in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, the streets being lined with people wanting to say thanks to the lady who did a lot for Scotland. The Queen’s mother was Scottish, and loved Balmoral, so this love, no doubt rubbed off on her girl. Because the Queen’s main residence was in London, she had to be taken back so a large grey Airforce plane came to carry her there. Her coffin was draped in the lion rampant. This is the royal standard of the King or Queen of Scot’s. It’s the personal banner of the monarchy and it bears a lion rearing up as if fighting. The sight of the plane in Edinburgh airport, with the Pentland Hills in the background filled the Scots with pride.
Once back in London the Queen lay in state and people stood in a four-mile queue, it might have been longer, to pay homage to her. The nation was given a holiday on the day of her funeral and hordes of people lined the streets of London. The Queen had four children, her oldest being Charles, the Prince of Wales. He became King Charles III on his mum’s passing, the first King Charles being the grandson of Mary Queen of Scot’s. She had her head chopped off. So did Charles I. Charles the III is probably glad that Kings and Queens are no longer beheaded. The Queen was a monarch, but she was also a mother, and her four children, Charles, Ann, Andrew and Edward were visibly sad. The second Elizabethan era had ended as history proceeded to walk forward.
Jimjan's Journal 