RIP HM Queen Elizabeth ll

[Colin_McLeod]

I like the reference number "LISQ"

 

[Colin_McLeod]

3 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

 

I think the issue was that some of the armbands being sold were unused ones - i.e. they were allowing people to pay to jump the queue.

 

I think you may be correct. Listing of armbands are back on e bay today.

[Phil Bullock]

What a fitting ceremony today. Britain at its best. Thank you Elizabeth for all you did in your life and thank you to all those involved in planning and delivering a most appropriate ceremony.

 

Beeb coverage spot on too

 

 

[didcot]

A fitting end to a life well lived. Wonderful to see the crowds out paying their respects.

Found the National Anthem in the Abbey rather moving.

[Hroth]

Its an odd thing to say but I enjoyed watching the service at Westminster Abbey.  The hymns were proper hymns, the tricksy new music was left to the choir and the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a sensible sermon.

 

Its a good thing that King Charles is in good health, he's been doing a lot of walking in procession over the last week or so.

 

[Ian Hargrave]

A fitting,dignified and moving service.Pomp,Circumstance and the best of British choral tradition from the Abbey choir.New pieces specially composed including one by appropriately enough a Scot…Sir James MacMillan…and a favourite of mine personally My Soul There Is A Country Far Beyond The Stars by Sir Hubert Parry…a composer much admired by our new King. In my days as a choir member,I’ve sung it a few times. Two other things that touched me were the piper’s lament and the few words,no more than that,by the BBC’s Fergal Keane in commentary. Refraining from over intrusive commentary made the ceremony all the more appropriate.

[Bon Accord]

A pity the majority of the crowds seem more interested in capturing the procession on their mobile phones more than anything else.

[melmerby]

Us Brits doing the one thing we are world class at - Pomp & ceremony.

[PhilH]

I thought the whole thing was a magnificent send off for a magnificent lady.

[Legend]

I thought the Pipers Lament slowly disappearing was very moving . 
 

Very sad to think she’s not still around but a very fitting funeral . 

[Ian Hargrave]

Viewed just the committal service from St. George’s Chapel which for me was the most moving part of the whole day.Near the end of the ceremony,the Orb & Sceptre and Imperial Crown were taken from the top of the coffin and placed on the High Altar. Today’s BBC commentator,David Dimbleby informed us that they were ceremonially presented to Her Majesty at her Coronation in 1953 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As a boy just having passed his11+ to enter Grammar School,I watched and listened to it all on a neighbour’s 9” TV ( We had no TV ). The BBC commentary on that occasion was ,of course,David Dimbleby’s father,Richard..

   So here am I. At the joyous start to the New Elizabethan age ……and at its stately ending. I have no words that could describe my thoughts.

 

 

[britishcolumbian]

Stayed up almost all night watching that, though did nap through the drive to Windsor. That was... glorious. Felt the piper's lament down to the bone, and shed more than a few tears again.

[Phil Bullock]

5 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

Stayed up almost all night watching that, though did nap through the drive to Windsor. That was... glorious. Felt the piper's lament down to the bone, and shed more than a few tears again.

And the Mounties did you proud too. Superb turn out…..

[adb968008]

I’ve enjoyed the WCML action the last few days but today was the day to acquiesce as to why…

 

Took the family out to the A4 near Heathrow, 5 hours for 5 minutes that one will never forget.
 

My mum recalls the queens coronation in 1953 as she approaches her 80th, I said to my daughter she will be able to someday tell her grandchildren, when she herself is 80 about this day, and that between her and grandmother who recalls 1953 would put 150 years between her and her grandmother seeing the coronation, the funeral and that date future date in year 2090 !

 

A day none of us are going to forget.

 

RIP Her Majesty

 

 

 

 

 

for us today it was no longer about what is seen on TV the last 10 days but to feel it for real.

 

so many people lined the 22 mile route on both sides today from end to end, several people deep… it’s been hot, not many facilities, so much respect, no one complaining, such a nice atmosphere.

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008

[Pacific231G]

My nephew came down early this morning and watched the processions from near Buckingham Palace but though it would have been good to have been with people today- several of us were planning to go up to London this afternoon but thought better of it-  I'm rather glad that I chose to stay in to watch it all on TV. I also noted that Al Jazeerah, France 24, and NBC were all taking the whole coverage. I rather thought they'd only run the London part of the day but they stayed with it for the Windsor service too. 

I found both services very moving but particularly the commital, the two dsappearing piper's laments  and the moments when the Instruments of State were moved to the altar and the Lord Chamberlain "broke" his staff of office (it was actually in two sections)   

I did notice that, after the lowering of the coffin, the TV shots were all carefully (and sometimes awkwardly) framed to not show that part of the floor. I wondered if that meant that it didn't actually disappear completely. 

 

This day had to come one day- and I'm just thankful it wasn't during lockdown. Not being able to give the Queen the proper send-off she so richly deserved (as sadly was the case with Prince Philip) would have been terrible. It does feel that one of the great constants of life has gone (I was a baby when George VI died) and I suppose in a way it does represent the final end of the post-war era.

 

 

[didcot]

My wife has just informed me that nearly 5 billion people watched today's events. Not sure what percentage of the population of the world that is, but truly stunning. The BBC did a fantastic job.

[stewartingram]

One thing did annoy me though. The parade from the Abbey & past the Palace to reach the hearse, had the music (supposedly?) from the marching band. This did drown out the commentary from Huw Edwards a lot, but it seemed to me to be a soundtrack loop that was superimposed on the picture - though I could be wrong? There was the sound of a bell every so often (like the gun bell at Windsor), which always seemed to occur at the same part of music; and if it was 'live', surely it would change volume and fade/increase as the band marched along? What do others think?

[MR Chuffer]

6 minutes ago, didcot said:

5 billion

5 billion? How do they know? That's probably a lot of Chinese in there in the middle of the night. Think it is reasonable to say a lot of people saw it, I didn't....

[big jim]

Shed quite a few tears during the day watching bits of the funeral and now the last scene in paddington 2 has just finished me off! 

[AY Mod]

16 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

What do others think?

 

You're right, to me it was a mix of a looped march which was asynchronous to any band shown and, as you say, a constant level. Big Ben's bong and the guns in Hyde Park were added in as their level didn't change even though the camera position in relation to them did so.

 

However, both of us shed a few tears with the removal of the monarch's instruments as if to say "your job is done" swiftly followed by the lowered coffin and fading piper's lament. RIP.

[didcot]

I deliberately didn't watch Paddington, as it gets me going anyway. As did the Jubilee sketch.

I must admit to be emotionally shattered. 

[2750Papyrus]

I believe that the next briefing of the Sovereign by the Prime Minister will be the first for both parties. 

 

Hopefully not this week, HM must be exhausted.

[zr2498]

What a wonderful day which will be forever ingrained on my memory. A sense of pride as well as sadness.

Fantastic precision from the armed forces and those pall bearers should get a special mention. Superb display and with such a responsibility. I heard the coffin is lead lined so one heck of a weight. Well done to all concerned.

[Phil Bullock]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

Shed quite a few tears during the day watching bits of the funeral and now the last scene in paddington 2 has just finished me off! 

Does that make you Knuckles Jim? 

[Doncaster Green]

22 minutes ago, zr2498 said:

What a wonderful day which will be forever ingrained on my memory. 

It was truly wondrous, so full of pomp, ceremony and spectacle while, at the same time, being so deeply and emotionally respectful of a wonderful lady many of us have grown up and grown old with.  I don’t think I will be alone in believing that we must one of the few, if not the only nation that can stage such a display that is both intimate and celebratory and is in no way bombastic or nationalistic. As has been said by many, a day I will remember for the rest of my life.