"The News" – 9/08/22

Today I was having lunch on Main Street with my dear Dad when a friend passing by informed me of the news: "You've heard about The Queen, right?" As she'd been ill, I instantly nodded (even though I hadn't)

Whatever you felt about The Queen she was beloved and will be missed by more people than any of us will encounter in our lifetime. Countless celebrities have recounted she had as great a sense of humor as decorum

She was genuinely interested in the other. Strong-willed, and as pioneering as traditional purely by virtue of being a women in charge for so very long. Dutifully rising to occasions numerous and varied as stars

England has always been my home away from home I felt like I belonged there instantly. The musical history the architecture art of conversation the gardens the fashion the BBC the accents the diversity the energy

But I admittedly never understood (the appeal of) The Monarchy. That was no matter because I was more interested in comprehending why it meant so much to so many friends and peers and so I would often ask

And the answer that always come back would be: "We love it because it is uniquely ours" I suppose in a sense Hollywood is tantamount to America's Royalty and similarly we love it loathe it mercilessly as mercifully

I went to a party at a friend's home in London when William and Kate got married. It was all anyone was thinking about and talking about you couldn't escape it so we embraced it to the hilt mostly I remember

Thematic cakes, cookies, communal tellie-watching the fascination with who was wearing what, how and I
also remember how much we laughed and felt united by something as revered and surreal as questionable

To lead a nation in any realm is nearly impossible no one can do it without sizable failures and lapses but if you believe even an ounce of The Crown QE2's doubt and fear were, daily, outdone by focus and confidence

When it came to The Queen's sense of duty curiosity was always welcome in The Palace and the cognitive dissonance that must have pervaded each day while in power never succeeded in getting the best of Elizabeth

If dignity was a planet then She was its never-ending quest, astronaut-dressed ready for action at all times letting her guard down seldom, brushing beautiful horses' manes fastidiously, many an English sunrise