I’m not a mad Royalist but I’ve always loved the Queen. THEY say that All good things must come to an end. But honestly today’s sad news of the death of the Queen at her beloved Balmoral, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary or Lilibet as she was known to some – is something that I have been dreading for some time. I had daftly hoped that she could go on forever, the one mainstay in all our lives. She has had a lot to put up with recently, family wise and politician wise, and of course with the loss of Prince Philip just over a year ago she must have been very lonely, family can only do so much to help. It looked like she was just waiting her turn to join him – wherever.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

The painting below is by Pietro Annigoni.