The End of an Era

Queen Elizabeth, 96 years old and reigned for 70 years, was laid to rest in her crypt inside the King George VI Memorial Chapel within the St. Charles Chapel at Windsor Castle about 20 miles west of London along with her mother, father and sister. This funeral is a big television day here, there and around the world. Lots of Brits marching slowly.

I watched the final public service at the chapel in Windsor Castle. Lots of pomp and circumstance and way too much Church of England religious mumbo jumbo. The choir was nice though. The best part was the Queen's Piper walking away playing the bagpipes while the coffin was lowered into the crypt and the sound of the pipes faded away. It's been a long ten days and now I'm glad it's over.

This certainly the end of an era and the start of a new one. King Charles is in his 70's and people are already talking about the next King... William. This is a new era of kings. It doesn't look like there could be another queen for several generations. There will also probably be a slimming down of the monarchy.

One also has to wonder how King Charles will deal with the remnants of the British Empire falling apart. Already places like Australia, Canada, Scotland and Wales are talking about leaving the royal authority of Great Britain and the monarch. There is a strong movement for Scottish and Welsh full independence. Queen Elizabeth represented a bygone era and an empire that is long gone. King Charles will need to deal with the new realities of the 21st Century which has not been kind to England and for good reasons. The legacy of colonialism made England what it is today and there are many people and countries around the world that resent it. 

Becky and I had a wonderful time in London in 2018 and 2019 and we saw how the legacy of their empire has shaped that city and it's people. It has become much more multicultural as people from countries scattered around the world moved to London to make it their home. You could see it everywhere in the city. We saw the legacy of colonialism in Paris too. People from all over the world have made London (and Paris) cities that represent the world. Of course there are many racist English people who recent the "foreigners" living among them and we could see that too. It has been their empire coming home to roost.

I think there are some touch times coming to England and I'm glad we got to experience London before whatever is going to happen. 

A funny quote from Matt... "It's going to be funny next year when King Charles' funeral is only 20 minutes long and nobody shows up to queue"