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From John Ray's shorter notes
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September 09, 2022
GOD SAVE THE KING!
That was my immediate and proper response when I was told that Her Majesty the Queen had died. Britain is never without a monarch. When one passes the successor is immediately known and recognized.
Like untold millions worldwide I was upset to hear of her death and shed a tear over it. Australia is a monarchy and I think you have to be a citizen of a monarchy to understand the emotional significance of that.
I also shed a tear when the previous monarch died. I was only nine when King George VI died but even then I felt the significance of the occasion.
Aside from Britain itself there are two other great monarchies where the Queen will be widely mourned: Australia and Canada. Each occupies around 3 million square miles of territory and their collective populations exceed that of all European countries except Russia and Germany. Our courageous English forebears in their little wooden ships did an amazing job of spreading their civilization far and wide across the globe.
I have family members presently living in both Scotland and New Zealand -- two countries that are about as oppositely located on the face of the earth as you can get. Yet both speak every day the English language that they learnt in their Australian childhoods. And they are perfectly understood in both locations. Such is the miracle that our English forebears created.
There were a few uncomprehending people who spoke ill of the Queen after hearing of her death. I wonder how many people will shed a tear over their deaths? If they were wise they might reflect on that
The Queen's loyal public are gathering outside Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace as they pay emotional tributes to the Monarch who has died today aged 96.
Thousands of well-wishers flocked to Buckingham Palace this evening as news broke of the Queen's death.
Tourists and concerned Britons headed to the iconic London landmark, while people also congregated outside the royal castle in Aberdeenshire to mourn for Her Majesty.
Her son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, is now King. The Queen's children and grandchildren travelled to be with her this afternoon after doctors said they were 'concerned' for her health.
Around 100,000 people are expecting to line the streets outside Buckingham Palace this evening. Already crowds now stretch for more than a mile to Trafalgar Square.
At 6.30pm a Union flag atop Buckingham Palace lowered. It drew gasps from the crowd who knew what the symbolic gesture meant.
The sad news of Queen Elizabeth II death was then announced officially. Some people in the crowd wept as others gave an impromptu rendition of God Save The Queen.
Two members of the Queens household emerged and placed a notice of the Queen’s passing on the gates of Buckingham Palace.
The crowd surged to the gates as the notice announcing the death of the only monarch most Britons have ever known was attached to the black iron gates.
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GREENIE WATCH,
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AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and
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