Sophie
Forum Replies Created
-
Picture Source: Vanity Fair
Floral Tribute
Evening will come, however determined the late afternoon,
Limes and oaks in their last green flush, pearled in September mist.
I have conjured a lily to light these hours, a token of thanks,
Zones and auras of soft glare framing the brilliant globes.
A promise made and kept for life – that was your gift –
Because of which, here is a gift in return, glovewort to some,
Each shining bonnet guarded by stern lance-like leaves.
The country loaded its whole self into your slender hands,
Hands that can rest, now, relieved of a century’s weight.
Evening has come. Rain on the black lochs and dark Munros.
Lily of the Valley, a namesake almost, a favourite flower
Interlaced with your famous bouquets, the restrained
Zeal and forceful grace of its lanterns, each inflorescence
A silent bell disguising a singular voice. A blurred new day
Breaks uncrowned on remote peaks and public parks, and
Everything turns on these luminous petals and deep roots,
This lily that thrives between spire and tree, whose brightness
Holds and glows beyond the life and border of its bloom.
SIMON ARMITAGE
Poet laureate
HM The Queen sitting on rocks beside a waterfall on the Garbh Allt burn with two corgis on the Estate at Balmoral Castle, Scotland during the Royal Family’s annual summer holiday in September 1971. Credit: Lichfield/Lichfield/Getty Images
An artist who attracted widespread praise for her Platinum Jubilee sketch of the Queen with Paddington Bear has created another touching tribute to mark Her Majesty’s death.
Eleanor Tomlinson’s latest work shows the Queen arm in arm with the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021.
The sketch, titled Our Beloved Queen, also features Her Majesty’s favourite animals – a corgi and a horse.
A gun salute and national day of mourning: Here’s how Australia will mark the Queen’s death
Australia is mourning the passing of the nation’s head of state with a number of events and other measures planned to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Flags around Australia are being flown at half-mast and federal parliament has been suspended as the nation mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
A gun salute will be held at Australia’s Parliament House at dusk on Friday, with one round fired for every year of the Queen’s life.
Parliament will be suspended for 15 days and flags will likely remain at half-mast until the day after the Queen’s funeral, except for Saturday, when Prince Charles is proclaimed as the new sovereign.
A National Day of Mourning will be held following the return of the prime minister and Governor-General from London, with a moment’s silence to be observed. A date for this has yet to be announced.
Canberra Times
Despite incessant London rain, the crowd continued to build outside the palace gates through the night.
By nightfall, a huge crowd had descended on Buckingham Palace. (ABC News: Nick Sas ) In the evening, a symbol appeared.
A double rainbow stretched across the sky above the mourners gathered outside Buckingham Palace.
At Windsor Castle, another arched over the grounds just as the Union Jack flag was lowered.
A double rainbow emerged above Buckingham Palace after the announcement of the Queen’s passing.(Reuters: Toby Melville) It is expected that Charles will be officially proclaimed King on Saturday. This will happen at St James’s Palace in London, in front of a ceremonial body known as the Accession Council.This is made up of members of the Privy Council – a group of senior MPs, past and present, and peers – as well as some senior civil servants, Commonwealth high commissioners, and the Lord Mayor of London.
More than 700 people are entitled in theory to attend, but given the short notice, the actual number is likely to be far fewer. At the last Accession Council in 1952, about 200 attended. At the meeting, the death of Queen Elizabeth will be announced by the Lord President of the Privy Council (currently Penny Mordaunt MP), and a proclamation will be read aloud.
The wording of the proclamation can change, but it has traditionally been a series of prayers and pledges, commending the previous monarch and pledging support for the new one.This proclamation is then signed by a number of senior figures including the prime minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Chancellor.
As with all these ceremonies, there will be attention paid to what might have been altered, added or updated, as a sign of a new era. After a fanfare of trumpeters, a public proclamation will be made declaring Charles as the new King. This will be made from a balcony above Friary Court in St James’s Palace, by an official known as the Garter King of Arms.
He will call: “God save the King”, and for the first time since 1952, the national anthem will be played with the words “God Save the King”.
Gun salutes will be fired in Hyde Park, the Tower of London and from naval ships, and the proclamation announcing Charles as the King will be read in in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
King Charles said the Queen’s loss would be ‘deeply felt throughout the country’. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images
perthnow.com
The Best Tulips in Perth are at Araluen Botanic Park and I’m off to see them!! Have a great weekend all.
Queen Elizabeth II waits in the drawing room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral. Credit: Jane Barlow/APPerthnow.com
The Queen looking frail but cheery as she greets the new UK Prime Minister”
Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Truss during an audience at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she invited Truss to form a new government.Jane Barlow/APedition.cnn.com
Queen Elizabeth II waits in the drawing room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral. Credit: Jane Barlow/AP
