Queen Elizabeth II

I thought it worth starting this one today. I've always considered myself a monarchist - realise everyone has an opinion on it, however the Queen to me was always the one to look up to and be guided by. I've slightly surprised myself in how sad I actually feel about it all today. It was really felt last night - about an hour after the announcement when I went to B&Q of all places to pick up some DIY materials and saw the digitised billboard by the Alvis bridge on the Holyhead Road which, instead of marketing another product, simply had a photo of the Queen and her name/dates. That appears to have carried on this morning with others, notably the one on the side of the Skydome/cinema complex, visible from the Ring Road. A truly iconic lady who served us so well. RIP.

I think that most people in this country must feel privileged that they have been served so well, for their whole lives, by such a regal and gracious monarch. We will never see the likes of Queen Elizabeth II again in our lifetimes. It seems in some ways like losing our own grandmother.

Just for awareness. As well as the Sky Blues game, this weekend’s MotoFest has now been cancelled. MotoFest would like to express how deeply saddened we are at the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with the King and the Royal Family at this time. Following consultation with our event partners Coventry City Council and E.ON Drive, we have agreed, in line with protocols regarding the death of a monarch, to postpone this weekend’s MotoFest festival. The postponement will extend to all supporting events set to be staged as part of the MotoFest weekend. We would like to thank all our sponsors, partners, supporters and the general public for all their continued support and understanding. There will be further updates in due course regarding future dates for the event.

Aberdeenshire Council have taken the decision to provide free 'Park & Ride' buses to Balmoral from different places for people to take flowers (no candles permitted) and/or just pay their respects, therefore avoiding traffic chaos. This will be continued daily from 10am till 7pm until further notice. We stayed in Aberdeen overnight and as Neil mentioned in the previous post, billboards, bus shelters, all carried a picture of HM the Queen with the 1926-2022 caption. Today we went to various stores and none were playing that infernal Muzak for once!

Hi all, Reports are stating that Princess Anne and Prince Charles, now King Charles III, were both with Queen Elizabeth when she died at Balmoral on Thursday. The Royal Family rushed to Balmoral after news of the Queen's ill health on Thursday afternoon.

It was amazing to see the rows of tractors on either side of the road near where we were standing at Royal Deeside yesterday and the horses lined up from the local stables.. We thought that the particular place we chose would be quite quiet on a country road in our little spot, but within half an hour or so, there must have been 500 people gathered on either side!! God bless, Your Majesty.

Thanks to the wonderful world of television, I am able to sit here and watch the Household Cavalry now, this minute, and Grenadier Guards preparing to take and escort Her Majesty on her final journey to Westminster Hall. What a wonderful sight to see outside Buckingham Palace, all these men in their full traditional dress. I can't wait to see them all marching down the Mall. Her Majesty would be so proud. At the same time it's all very quiet out there. All waiting to see the gun carriage appear. Must go, it has begun.

As sad as this is, I have to say, we do this sort of thing so very well.

Neil, you certainly do and today was a day to remember. Everything went very smoothly for Her Majesty and now she is being watched over and well protected. God will bless her now and so, God Save the King.

In between watching some of The Queen's funeral today, I've finished publishing a related article for Historic Coventry.... Queen's 1977 visit sowed the seed for the Transport Museum The article was originally put together by Paul Maddocks, but he has recently kindly supplied me with several of his own pieces so that they can be shared with interested and deserving folk, like your good selves! A quick look on Historic Coventry's What's new? page will reveal what has been added recently.

Believe me when I say I wondered how many of us/you would have loved to have been there watching Her Majesty pass by yesterday. Were any of you members lucky enough to get the opportunity to do so? My son was stationed in Canberra many years ago (RAAF) and had to do ½ hour stints of guard duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and he rang this morning to ask if I had watched the TV presentation yesterday. I asked him if he could remember his thoughts of that day whilst standing there and he said, “It was awesome and very proud and it took a while for the moment to sink in that I had had the privilege to do so”. As I watched those yesterday standing there in Westminster Hall I was wondering what they were thinking. I can now imagine. I didn't miss any of it yesterday and will watch the repeat if I can.

What an amazing day for an amazing Monarch.

They certainly did her proud. Part of me felt it should have all been in black and white. Colour seemed too much like the Jubilee.