I had a whole blog post ready to go this morning, then, just after 6.30pm yesterday (Thursday 8 September) it was announced that Her Majesty the Queen, our longest reigning monarch and the only Queen I have ever known, had died.
This followed a day when we were told doctors were concerned for her health; two days after seeing pictures of a frail-looking 96-year-old Queen receiving outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss at Balmoral.
I won’t write much, except to add my few recollections of the Queen.
I fondly remember a street party in Stone-in-Oxford in Kent, where my parents had just bought a pub, in 1977 for her Silver Jubilee.
I was invited, as Editor of Broadcast magazine at the time, to a reception for the broadcasting industry at Buckingham Palace in, I think, 2001. I was allowed to drive into Buckingham Palace, into an inner courtyard and the whole thing took place in one of the rooms of state. It was quite overwhelming (what were we to wear? It was business attire and I opted for a black DKNY skirt suit) and I was too shy/slightly anti-monarchist to ask for an introduction to the Queen or to Prince Philip or to Andrew who was also there in some pseudo business promotion role.
I celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2002 when I was quite heavily pregnant in a village outside Crewkerne in Somerset.
Then, in 2012, for her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen visited Salisbury as part of her national tour and I turned out with my two girls and some friends to see her be whisked from Salisbury station in a shiny car with big windows to the Cathedral where we gathered in the Close to get another look at her and Prince Philip as she greeted crowds etc. A friend’s daughter got right up to the barrier and may even have shaken her hand.
I happened to be in London on 2 June this year for a theatre trip (Jodie Comer in Prima Facie – fantastic) and saw the fly past for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – and of course I went to another village street party on Sunday 5 June to celebrate her 70 years on the throne.
So that’s it. She’s been a constant presence in the 51 years of my life and she’s played many blinders in terms of PR by being seen but rarely speaking and never commenting on the sturm und drang of the royals’ soap opera lives, or on politics.
My 20-year-old daughter strongly objects to the monarchy and she’s right. I used to question the monarchy much more than I do now. I quite enjoy the gossip element to the whole royal extended family and I just can’t be bothered to argue about things any more.
But the death of Queen Elizabeth II is a moment in history and I’m privileged to be working for one of the country’s leading news organisations, ITN, which yesterday handled the breaking news with gravitas and respect and humanity and well-rehearsed broadcasting across ITV News, Channel 4 News, 5 News and to its many international news syndication clients. Everyone who works there is amazing and they’re continuing to pull out all the stops for the next 10 days of events and developments.
Lucy Rouse PR Blog 