Touched by an Angel: The beating heart of the Commonwealth has stopped

"Grief is the price we pay for love." Queen Elizabeth II

Timing, that particular point of time when something happens, was very important to me this week.

Having made the commitment to write again for the Midweek, I sat down on several occasions to write a column and yet it seemed nothing flowed. I awaited the inspiration, I awaited my Angels' guidance.

This morning it came. But not in the way I imagined. Waking, like most of you to the news that Queen Elizabeth ll had died, I was caught up in many emotions, my throat choked up and my tears flowed.

I have never considered myself as a royalist, but I have great respect for this Queen, who was dedicated to service of people.

As a small child she was raised somewhat free from the expectations of being a future queen, and as a young woman she challenged the expectations of what young women were like.

"I declare that my whole life will be dedicated to your service," were her words right from the beginning of her reign.

In one of the few columns I wrote after my husband Tony died in April 2021, I reflected on the loss of Queen Elizabeth's life-long confidante and husband, Prince Phillip and understood in my own way her grief at losing him. I wondered over these months since then how she was coping, with all the emotions and challenges that go with the loss of a special pal.

As Tomas Wilder said, "It is hard to turn the page when you know someone won't be in the next chapter, but the story must go on."

And her story went on right up to the day she died. It was like the beating heart of England and parts of the Commonwealth had stopped. But we must go on. God has saved our Queen, and she rests in the arms of the Angels. Long live the King.

I can only imagine how the future will be for King Charles III and his family. After being groomed all his life for this role and only by saying goodbye to his mother in her death, could he become King, a role in this day and age that is so different to when his mother became queen.

Will he be able to follow his passions, like climate change and youth? My Angels guided me to these words from the then Prince Charles, "As human beings, we suffer from an innate tendency to jump to conclusions, to judge people too quickly, and to pronounce them failures or heroes without due consideration."

Let's not do this with King Charles III.

I end with the words of Paddington Bear over a cup of tea with the Queen, "Thank you for everything. Goodbye Ma'rm".

Arohanui. Shirley-Joy