THE FINAL ROAD…

I have never owned a commemorative cup or a Buckingham Palace tea towel.

Yet I shall miss the Queen.

She was as present in my life as a distant great aunt who you only saw at Christmas when she’d make a little speech, or at a school open day. Or in her holiday snaps… Abu Dhabi, Paris, the Vatican, the world.

I last met her when she and Philip visited Central Europe in 2008. I was part of the Press Pack invited to follow her around for a couple of days.

Queen Elizabeth was quite simply a pleasant person to be with. She looked good, was interested in everything, smiled genuinely and was amused by Philip’s antics with the Press. The joker in the pack, so to speak.

Over the years, because of my job, I met Diana, Charles, Andrew, Sarah and Ann.

But the abiding memory I have of Royalty is of a tiny old lady in her best clothes throwing in the puck in a mountainside ice stadium near the Polish border.

She was laughing, joking and smiling.

LET’S REMEMBER HER WITH GOOD FEELING – AND LET HER FAMILY FACE THEIR TRUTHS AND CONSEQUENCES ALONG THEIR OWN JOURNEY HOME.

#queen #funeral