Great Britain in mourning: London bids goodbye to the Queen

Thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to the late Queen. But life in the metropolis is not stable.

People offer flowers at Buckingham Palace, shop owners change their window decorations. London bids farewell to the Queen.

Christophe Procelli
ARD-Studio London

Thousands gathered at Buckingham Palace. They walk down “The Mall” Boulevard, quietly without crowds, many with bouquets of flowers in their arms. like moss.

“I’ve always loved the Queen. I’ve seen her twice. She’s really great. I remember the coronation and her father too. She was amazing,” the elderly lady of Queen Elizabeth II has watched over the years on the throne. ,

Crowds gather in the palace

She has traveled with her husband and children from a city 60 km away from London. And on a card attached to the bouquet she wrote:

Below, many have already laid flowers. In view of the palace. Also Jane.

“We wanted to be in London today. We want to go to the palace. But the queues are really long. We want to put our flowers down. It’s so sentimental,” says the woman, her daughter lovingly warns: Don’t cry .

Crowds flock past the palace, there really isn’t much to see. The king has already arrived in the morning, police officers and barriers stand in front of the palace. The coffin containing the Queen’s body is still in Scotland. Still take lots of photos. They want to capture this historic moment, take pictures for photo albums, for Instagram.

“the rock on which Britain is built”

This is the end of the symbol people are seeing here, a symbol that has brought stability for decades, stood for continuity, a rock on which Britain is built, as Prime Minister Liz Truss said. “What she has done for England is second to none. No one else in the world has a queen.” Many people here see it that way.

A mother is holding her child, with a palace in the background. A little ahead, people are laying flowers in the Green Park. The meadows are full, hundreds of bouquets, a sea of ​​flowers, playing cards. In the handwriting of some precocious children one reads:

screen store windows, glossy advertising

A few meters away someone put a cuddly toy. This is Paddington the Bear, a character from the children’s books that the Queen received at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of her 70th birth anniversary. A touching short film in which Paddington acts a little clumsily and the two realize they always have toast with Jaime.

A few meters further, on the “Piccadilly” shopping street, some shops have darkened shop windows, such as the famous tea dealer “Fortnum and Mason”, which otherwise attracts attention with its original and noble decoration. The shop windows are covered in honor of the Queen’s extraordinary life, it is written there. On the street of Piccadilly Circus, large advertising monitors are lit. Automakers and fashion brands are not affected by this. Life goes on here.