I'm no royalist but she was a beacon throughout our lives .Duty ran through her veins, and that perseverance, attending countless functions, always showing optimism , endeared her to us.
When John Lennon was killed in 1980, I felt the same sort of grief, we'd lost part of ourselves. a good part, intelligent, hopeful for the future, a light had gone out in our lives.
It's the same again but this time the country has lost its mother.