Opinion: Farewell to QE2
Another Madera Fair has completed its annual successful run. Next up is Madera’s answer to a founder’s day celebration, Old Timers Day. On Saturday next, beginning at 10 a.m. the OTD parade will take place on Yosemite Avenue followed by a celebration festival in Courthouse Park.
The King and Queen of Old Timers Day are Bill and Carla Alessini and the Grand Marshal is Monte Pistoresi. Next week, The Madera Tribune will bring you feature stories on these amazing people.
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On Sept. 8 the world suffered a monumental loss with the death of Queen Elizabeth ll. Her televised funeral will be held on Monday. In the meantime, on cable and broadcast television there are plenty of programs outlining the incredible reign of this remarkable woman.
Spending an unheard of 70 years as queen of the United Kingdom the streaming service NETFLIX is rerunning the mini-series The Crown. It shows with dramatic license the life and time of QE2.
Upon the death of the queen, her firstborn the Prince of Wales Charles Phillip Arthur George became King Charles lll.
What a bizarre life this man has led. His entire life has been spent a heartbeat away from the throne. Every minute waiting for the death of his mother and dreading her passing at the same time. The world has changed greatly since Feb. 6, 1952, when the queen’s father King George Vl died, and she automatically became queen.
I dreamed of being a princess when I was a little girl. Sometimes my father called me princess and at other times precious.
The love story of Charles and Diana has been laid bare by so much media attention. Their wedding was televised worldwide to an estimated audience of 28.4 million people with 600,000 people lining the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the bride and groom. I have often wondered how royal watchers and others come up with these numbers.
I became interested in the Royal family after Charles and Diana’s engagement. The Prince and Princess of Wales graced untold covers of periodicals that continue until this day.
A part of me will never forgive King Charles for the grief his subsequent actions caused Diana. We have been told through the media that he only realized that he loved her after she died.
An unauthorized look at the Royal family “The Crown,” makes for interesting viewing. How much of the story is true we will never know.
In one of the queen’s final official acts, her audience with Britain’s new Prime Minister Mary Elizabeth Truss shows a very frail monarch who died just three days later.
Prince Philip, the queen’s husband died on April 9, 2021. The footage of his funeral shows the queen sitting alone and wearing a mask that has become required in the aftermath of the global pandemic of COVID-19.
The images are heartbreaking. At that time I wondered how long the queen would live after the death of the only man she ever loved. She lasted just 15 months after the death of Prince Philip styled as the Duke of Edinburgh.
Being the queen’s husband since their wedding on Nov. 20, 1947, had to be one of the most difficult jobs on the planet.
A disposed Prince from Greece, Philip had to walk two steps behind his wife for the rest of his life. What an enormous ego crusher that must have been for such a proud man.
As Queen Elizabeth ll is laid to rest the world mourns the loss of what might well be the last great monarch.
Long days and pleasant nights, have a blessed weekend.
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Readers contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
