“Perceptions” by Sandra Albers Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

I’m at the age where I’ve been going to a lot of funerals of late, or at least sending condolence cards. Such is life. The latest funeral I “attended” was, of course, that of Queen Elizabeth II. By attended, I mean that I was one of the die-hards who was up at three o’clock in the morning to watch live television coverage of this funeral for the ages.

While Londoners and visiting dignitaries filed into Westminster Abbey at the more civilized hour of 10 a.m. for a service that started an hour later, I was ensconced on my comfiest living room chair with only Ember the cat for company during the solemn occasion.

So a few, somewhat random, observations seem to be in order.

First, I was struck by the simplicity of the service itself. Only an hour long, it was the basic kind of service any old Anglican might receive. Perhaps that was the point; though she reigned as queen for seven decades, she was, in a sense, just another humble servant making her way through life as best she could, just like the rest of us. (Not that the rest of us are likely to have the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding over the funeral.) I also liked the ecumenical touches to this service, with speakers from several other denominations (Catholic, Evangelical, etc.),

Of course, the hoopla during the 10-day mourning period leading up to this simple service was, well, fit for a queen.

There was the silent vigil attended by the monarch’s four children, then another vigil attended by her eight grandchildren.  There was the lying-in-state in both Scotland and England as members of the public filed past. There were the mind-boggling queues in London just to get a momentary glimpse of the royal coffin. (Even soccer legend David Beckham stood in line for 13 hours; good on him for not using his famous name to jump the queue.)

Also mind-boggling was the level of security needed to pull off such a momentous event attended by leaders from around the world. I have to admit to feeling a touch nervous as I watched the royal funeral, its lead up and its aftermath, wondering if a terrorist bomb might go off at some point. Such is the world we live in. How do you completely secure a massive city like London after all?

And yet it all went off without a hitch. Well, except for two small hitches.

There was that errant piece of paper that fluttered out of a bishop’s hands, sailing through the air to land close to the queen’s coffin during the Westminster Abbey service. (It was eventually picked up by someone off-camera.) And there was the spider that apparently crawled out of the bouquet of flowers atop the queen’s casket to perch on King Charles’ hand-written card to his mother. Both resulted in many an internet meme, something that likely would have made the queen chuckle.

The restraint of the massive crowds in London was also remarkable. There was nary a quarrel or harsh word in those long queues, or amongst those who gathered in Hyde Park to watch the funeral service on a number of large screens. I guess the Brits really do know how to “keep calm and carry on.”

The saddest note, for me, was the apparently continuing rift between those two brothers, the princes William and Harry. Though they did make some public appearances together during the mourning period, my take is that their body language didn’t signal much in the way of warmth or reconciliation. I hope I’m wrong.

Now that the royal coverage has wound down, we must get back to “regular” news, like the ongoing war in Ukraine.

When she was alive, Queen Elizabeth was known to subtly show her support for Ukraine by wearing blue and yellow outfits at public events; she was also seen in a televised appearance with a vase of blue and yellow flowers on a side table next to her. Blue and yellow are, of course, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Symbolism can be a powerful thing.

The queen symbolized much that was good. May she rest in peace as we attempt to keep calm and carry on.

– Sandra Albers Warner is a retired journalist who writes a far better column on royalty than Gerry ever could.

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