The Press in London | “She was the grandmother of the nation”

(London, Great Britain) business as usual ? Not quite. Even though life goes on in London, there was something different in the air on Friday morning…

Jean-Christophe Laurence
The Press

The city, which was teeming with life just two days ago, with the back-to-school chirping, suddenly seemed more extinguished. With reason.

For the first time in 70 years, the United Kingdom woke up without Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday at the age of 96. In a country where most of the inhabitants have only known her as sovereign, this departure leaves a gaping hole, which her son Charles III, who has always been less popular, will perhaps never be able to fill.

One hardly dares to imagine the proportions of the national mourning which must unfold during the next 10 days. Between the branches, it is rumored that millions of people will come to the capital at the end of the week to parade in front of the Queen, who is to be displayed in Westminster, and that the wait could last up to 24 hours.

The rain that fell at noon on the capital added to this atmosphere of the end of the reign. Londoners walked slowly on the wet pavement, looking like they were thinking about the page of history that has just been turned.

Thousands had also made an appointment at Buckingham Palace, knowing that the queen was not there and that she will no longer be there, except for a few hours, Tuesday and Wednesday, when her coffin will have been repatriated from Scotland, where she breathed her last.

We cannot say that the atmosphere was heavy in front of the gates of the castle. Calm and collected would be better words. Everyone expected it, there is no shock or surprise, just the inevitable fatality. “I think people are still stunned” will tell us a bobby, in post since early in the morning.

When it started to rain, hundreds of umbrellas opened at the same time. Impression of a carefully prepared staging for the final episode of The Crown. At the top of the castle, the British flag was lowered to half mast. The police dispersed the crowd to let the military procession of the King’s Troup Royal Horse Artillery pass, in one of those typically British ballets.

Then the curious took possession of the street, to “pay homage” and “show respect” to the one who was for so long the face of the United Kingdom, a unifying image and a guarantee of stability in a world in permanent change. “She was truly the grandmother of the nation,” says Rob Stokoe, a Union Jack around his neck. She’s seen it all, heard it all. She inspired us in difficult times. I would never have missed this historic event.

For many, Elizabeth II was also the queen of an (almost) flawless run, until her exit, which was perfectly successful. The Queen had health issues and never really recovered from Prince Philip’s death.

But she held on until her jubilee and even until the appointment of new prime minister Liz Truss, the fifteenth to lead the country under her rule, whom she met as recently as Tuesday. Apparently she waited for the job to be done before leaving us.

“It’s the end of an era, sums up Sandra McDonald, 81, who came to meditate with her husband Harry. I’m sad, but I have no regrets. She gave everything for her country. And she made me happy…. »