Her Majesty has had to face her fair share of personal disappointments in her life, ranging from kidnap attempts against her only daughter, losing Lord Mountbatten and his grandson tragically, to the loss of Diana et al.

To me the loss of Diana put in sharp relief the demands Her Majesty has to face every single day of her life. HM was with Prince William and Prince Harry at Balmoral when Prince Charles had to wake them and tell them the tragic news of Diana's death.

HM was with the boys in her role as grandmother at this harrowing time for them, that's as it should be, a gran looking after the two boys, but no. It wasn't enough for some people, she had to be summonsed back to London to please the masses.

HM had to go on TV and sate the public appetite for some type of remorse, that goddamed public opinion that thought it was better for HM to walk away from those bereft boys in their time of need.

Some people should feel guilty at forcing that situation. I say HM has had her fair share of the tribulations of modern family life. HM has had to balance the daily affairs of state, and daily protocol, with her family needs too.

I say we have been extraordinarily lucky to have been blessed with 60 years of service from this quite amazing and compelling lady, and it is clear to everyone that HM has been accompanied through this journey from Ration Book Britian to the Internet Age by the love of her life, Prince Philip.

These last few days have seen an incredible level of warmth, respect, and love pouring out towards HM from people all over the UK, in fact, indeed, the World.

I have several friends who have just returned from London and they said the atmosphere was incredible, and emotional. They also said they were touched at the amount of people from every corner of the Globe that flew in to bring their respects, and to share the moment.

To me, we saw HM waver these last few days, at times having to work to keep her emotions in check. I don't think even HM could believe the love that was coming her way, and the sharp illness of Prince Philip just humanized it all the more.

As someone said on another thread, some people would do anything to avoid watching Cliff Richard.

Your Majesty, people are already planning on coming back to celebrate your 70th Jubilee. Quite simply put, Long Live the Queen.

...........

Mods, as the Jubilee Weekend has now ended, can you close the topic please.

Thanks Blether, for a wonderful post!

Perhaps the outpouring of sentiment is a reflection of a generation coming to grips with the passing of the generation that sacrificed so much. It wasn't lost on me that the events coincided with the June 6 memorials. I think for many people, when they look at the Queen, they think of their own parents and grandparents from that era. The photos of the young princess in uniform during WWII probably is paralleled in a great many homes. I know it was in mine.

When some people look at the recently released family photos or listen to Prince Charles describe the events in home movies as he sits there remembering some of the happiest times of his life, they are reminded of their own childhoods and similar visits to a park, or a walk on the beach with their mum. She might be Queen, but she's also a reassuring touchstone of sanity, of stability in a topsy turvy world filled with wars, despots and madness.

HM was 11 when the Abdication Crisis hit her little family like a train. Through her teenage years she watched her Dad struggle to fulfil his unwanted role as King, through her teenage years like all other Britons, HM saw the impending doom of Nazism crashing against the front door.

All through this HM saw her Dad live the daily torture of The Kings Speech, and the crushing responsibility of duty at a time of national crisis.

His Majesty King George gave everything he had, every ounce of effort and energy during the war. My Uncles went to fight, one was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese for almost 4 years. HM King George was equally tortured by his job, his duty, his dread at the impending invasion.

HM Queen Elizabeth saw the toll it took on her Dad, and saw the fortitude and strength her Mum gave to him. I use these words in their correct context, this was not a story of Kings and Queens, this was a story of Mum and Dad.

As far as I'm concerned the job killed HM King George, as far as I'm concerned HM King George was as much a casualty of the war as any other. My Uncle certainly thought so, he came back from the Japanese POW camps and struggled with the implications for the rest of his life, my Uncle fought for the rights of his fellow POWs through the Burma Star organization till he day he died in 2002.

That year, Her Majesty celebrated 50 years on the throne, the same year she lost her sister Princess Margaret, the same year she lost her Mum, The Queen Mother, who had lived 50 years a widow.

That same year Trumpeter Arthur Smith moved on to be with his pals in Heaven. Trumpeter Smith played the Last Post too many times over his pals graves at Kinkesake camp in Taiwan.

The war killed King George, the war haunted Trumpeter Smith to the end of his days, and the war showed Her Majesty what it was, what it took, to be a Queen.

We are living during the Second Elizabethan Age, it's an unbelievable Golden Age. We common people can do things now that were beyond the imagination of our parents and grandparents. However, being human, for many of us we can't see it. Go back and tell your parents and grandparents your grumbles of the day, and they will look at you as if you were the village idiot. Some of us don't know we were born.

We tend to forget we are all in it together, King George passed the mantle to Her Majesty, our families passed the mantle to us. Men like Trumpeter Smith stood at the front life and gave everything. For us.

They gave everything to give us a chance.

So let's humanize it again, one day Her Majesty will meet her Dad again, and I just know he's going to say, ' you did good sweetheart, you did good '.....

Of that, there is no doubt.

Dammit Blether, you've shattered my general opinion of you and your posts!

Thanks very much for two fine letters regarding our Queen and her family; comments that I truly wish I had the intelligence to have written.

Dammit Blether, you've shattered my general opinion of you and your posts!

Thanks very much for two fine letters regarding our Queen and her family; comments that I truly wish I had the intelligence to have written.

Ehm, sorry, my normal stupid service will resume shortly :-)

Fantastic weekend in London, the rain did not matter. 1.2Million+ people lined the Thames to watch the largest ever river regatta in history (uk or anywhere else) and we had a great time.

The concert was very good, and the carriage procession and balcony appearance/fly past gave another million or so people the chance to cheer.

It was apparent that the media did not expect such a positive response from the public, a lot of people and commentators were surprised how much the UK public reacted positively to the whole weekend's events.

Long live The Queen.