The Mourning Ends....plus A Royal Referendum Down Under????

On Saturday afternoon I popped down to the area around Tower Bridge to see the phenomenal

crowds gathering in their thousands, all queuing up for the opportunity to file past The Queen's

coffin lying in State in Westminster Hall. They claimed that the queue was at one time almost

4 miles long with a waiting time over 12 hours. Now there's dedication for you not to mention

sheer patience.

 

As a kid growing up I was often baffled at why we had to share our Queen  with faraway

countries like Canada and Australia. But then I was soon to learn from my Geography lessons

in Primary School that The Queen was in fact the Head of the Commonwealth, something I now

consider as an outdated institution.

Apparently a YouGov Poll in 2020 revealed that 62% of Australians down under would

be quite content to replace the Monarch with an alternative Australian Head of State. And

Canadians are equally split on the issue.

But I did hear a while back that Australians may push for a fresh referendum once The Queen

passed on. So perhaps very soon

the issue will raise it's head once more Down Under.

But I was thinking that our Christmas Day won't quite be the same without The Queen's

Speech at 3:00pm. The King's Speech just won't be the same. And I imagine none of it meant 

as much to people around The Commonwealth as it did here at home. I think many here timed

The Queen's tv appearance with serving up the Christmas lunch with the turkey and all the trimmings.

And so I imagine that in King Charles's

first Festive speech he will undoubtedly focus on the life of our departed Queen.

Above: Extraordinary scenes as The Queen's coffin and cortege climbs

the Long Walk up to Windsor Castle and St George's Chapel.

Above: The Queen with Princess Anne by American photographer Annie Leibovitz

around the time of The Queen's 90th Birthday.

Above is a poignant and sad cartoon illustration by Morten Morland of The Times.

The image released online on the day of The Queen's Funeral touched a lot of people,

particularly isolated elderly people watching The Funeral on tv while contemplating living

out the rest of their lives without their loved one.

Above: Our Jubilee party table back in 2012 to celebrate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

to mark 60 years since The Queen's accession to the throne in 1952.

Sadly that Summer in 2012 marked the start of my 6 year Cancer journey until

full Remission in 2019...literally months before the outbreak of Covid 19 when Cancer patients

were being turned away due to mass Covid Hospital admissions.

So reaching full Remission just before Covid arrived was surely the luckiest moment in

my life. And it does make you wonder about all the other cases that didn't get the fast tracking

NHS Service that I was lucky enough to get during those pre-Covid days.  

While in the vicinity of The Tower of London I thought I'd have a sneaky look in on

the Tower's big Summer project called Superbloom. And before I knew it one of the

Tower staff ushered me in, saying that entry to the moat was now free. So no nuisance of

booking an entrance ticket online. And I was able to go straight through and walk

among the wild flowers.

Superbloom at The Tower of London has transformed the Tower moat from a flat lawn

into a naturalistic landscape, a biodiverse habitat for pollinators in the heart of London.

And it seems that it will now be a permanent fixture at the Tower.

Bloggy the Beefeater!

 

So I managed to get hold of a new outfit for Bloggy. And something to add to his

growing collection of costumes. I can't remember who suggested it but one of 

our readers said that they'd like to see Bloggy all decked out in a Beefeater

Yeoman of the Guard outfit, the uniform of the Guards at The Tower of London.

And being such a crisp clear day it was the perfect opportunity to use The Tower

and Bridge as the perfect backdrop for a few pictures on Wednesday morning,

the very day just before our Covid National Lockdown which starts today (Thurs 5th).

Unfortunately the grounds of The Tower were sealed off to the public due to the 

current pandemic and only pre-booked ticket holders were being let in for tours

of the grounds, which was slightly disappointing as I was hoping to get some 

pictures of the real Yeoman Beefeaters.

But The Tower of London is a fascinating as well as historical fortress. It's hard

to believe that the central White Tower was first constructed in 1066 soon after the

Battle of Hastings. But of course the nearby Tower Bridge is not quite so old.

That was built and completed in 1886.