Elizabeth's coffin has now left London and, at the point of typing this, is arriving in Windsor where she will be eventually lowered into a royal vault, and then moved to an even more exclusive one that houses the bodies of her ancestors. Prince Phillip's coffin will also be moved to be with hers.
I watched a bit of the procession online and I found it funny that, while so many had to queue up for up to 24 hours to see the coffin, others saw it by accident as it went past the petrol station they were refilling at. Others simply sat on their balconies, enjoying the day, until the queen's royal hearse went by. Some, along the way nearer to Windsor, were even close enough to have been able to touch the vehicle if they wanted to.
It reminds me of Diana's death. I was at Imperial College at the time, and came out from our departmental building after a long night trying to finish my dissertation, unto Exhibition Road only for three dark limo-like vehicles to drive by carrying prominent members of the royal family. I clearly recognised Harry's red hair. They were rally young back then. There was also a coffin in one of the vehicles. I'm not certain, but it was likely Diana was in it. Perhaps a quick spiriting of her coffin from Kensington Palace unannounced? We'll never know.
 |  |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
When I arrived at Hyde Park, I realised what a good idea it was to have people place flowers here rather than at the palace. It will be so much easier to deal with after the fact. Besides, the park already have people who are absolute experts at dealing with flowers. There is a very nice garden towards the Hyde Park Station end of the park and some minders were clearly present making sure things ran smoothly. There was a woman there interviewing people randomly but, as evidenced by the fast that she was using her iPad to record, she was clearly an amateur. Perhaps it was for her YouTube channel or something. That's the vibe it had.
Some of the tributes were quite moving, especially the ones made by young children. Some of them clearly had a Disney-like impression of the royal family. There was even a young girl there, about 3 years old, dressed like a little princess.
After a while, and a lunch break at the park, I continued on to Westminster where the queen's body was lying in state. I had a chat with the barista at the park who said to me that the wait was "5 hours to see the queen". Hmm, I didn't quite fancy that, but I was interested in capturing the vibe of the place, so I went anyway.
The road there was uncharacteristically empty. I realised afterwards that it was because the roads had been blocked off to traffic. Some people took the advantage to walk and cycle on the large streets in a fashion that would be otherwise impossible. I used to frequent that area back in the day. I was a member of the IEE when I was a student. We were allowed into the Savoy Hotel and other buildings there as members. We also had (sometimes) free, or at least low cost, lunches! Good memories.
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
I approached on the north bank of the river so I didn't notice the long queues on the south bank. I learn't about it after the fact, when I got home even, when I saw the clip of David Beckham on the queue.
I got into a lot of conversations at Westminster. I was able to walk all the way to the entrance, where the press were, with no bother from anyone. There was a calm feeling everywhere. There were people from all over the world, tourists and delegates alike. I was asked to take a photograph by a gentleman who I realised was a government delegate from Nigeria. I think he was with an Egyptian delegate. I played tour guide to them for a few minutes before parting ways to carry on taking photos and video clips. I spoke to someone who was a bag pipe player, and who had played for the queen in the past. We laughed about how many of us from the colonies are here today and how it was this queen that was on the throne during the independence of most of the empire.
The legacy of the British Empire was palpable. While sat under the statue of Winston Churchill, her deceased majesty's first prime minister, I observed members of the armed forces from different countries of the commonwealth walk by. It had the feeling of the end of an era.
Peace & Love,
Adé