Queen Elizabeth II

I was woken by both of my sisters calling me at 6.00am.  The 'urgency' in the tone and the time told me immediately it wasn't a regular call.  That's how I heard the sad news that our Queen had passed away over night.  It's been a pretty heavy day - whilst her death was not surprising given her magnificent 96 year age, the reality of the event is still so very sad.  There's been a stream of retrospectives on tv about her life, condolences from world leaders, stories from New Zealanders who met her and story after story demonstrated her immense humanity, dignity, humour and service.  What an incredible woman who, just a couple of days ago, still managed to perform her duties as Queen by swearing in the new Prime Minister Liz Truss.  As is the case for most others, she has been a constant in my life - change is hard but change we now have to.

This picture is of a very young Queen Elizabeth.......a picture cut from a newspaper (possibly during the 1960's??) by my Nanna and slipped inside one of her cookery books that I now have.  The Queen was much admired by Nanna even back then.....incredible to think she has served as Queen for 70 years spanning so many generations.  

Rest peacefully.