The Queen, the Duke - and me

A difficult subject to write about this morning. The death and funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

For over a week there has been a ceaseless national outpouring of grief; countless hours on television and radio, and massive press coverage in words and pictures.

The death was indeed historic and worthy of national and even international attention and respect, but to me it was overdone.

In fact, it was in some ways, dare I say it, like a soap opera. A merging of fact and fiction, real life with imaginary memories.

Royal deaths are invariably cause for sadness, of celebration of service, but royalty in Britain is far different from that in some countries. More distant and formal. 

No one has ever seen our queen on a bus or riding a bicycle in the street; in fact 99.99 percent of the population have never seen Queen Elizabeth in person. 

I have. Six years ago I was invited to Buckingham Palace for an evening reception to mark the 60th anniversary of the Winston Churchill Fellowship scheme. 

It was a lovely evening,  After stopping at the Buckingham palace entrance where the car was checked for possible explosives,  I was driven to the front door and with no fuss escorted to the reception,

After a buffet meal with drinks we were lined up to meet the Queen, She spoke to each of us as did the Duke of Edinburgh who was at her side as he was for 73 years. 

He asked me where my travels had taken me and seemed genuinely interested as he did with my Fellowship colleagues.

Over the years I had seen the Queen several times, reporting her visits to Cardiff and later at official lunches on her official visits to the city. I even went down a coal mine with her.

So, yes, I appreciate the wonderful service she and her husband have given and am sad at her loss. 

She is the same age as I, and my 66 year marriage with Rosemary was a very happy one. It was sad to lose her after almost a lifetime together.

But, to go back to last week’s  events, I am worried that grief should not be overplayed, almost dramatised.