Cocktails and the Queen
Sep. 15th, 2022 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crystalcazzieI rounded out my birthday week by heading up to Kingston for cocktails with Paul on Friday evening. We'd planned it before the Queen died and there was a bit of uncertainty about whether things would still be open or not, but I was glad to see that the country did not come to a grinding halt. It did give me an opportunity to play Count the Queen though. I saw her image 17 times.
We had some very nice cocktails. One of Paul's came in a toucan head, which I was very jealous about! We also saw another one come in a Monkey Head, which made me think of Monkey Island, but it turned out to be one that had almond in so I didn't go for it. Cool as it looked, I can't stand almond!
My drinks were more on the elegant side:
And they all tasted really good too, which is the important thing!
We had dinner afterwards and brunch the next morning. This meant that I did miss King Charles's address to the nation and the Accession Council. I made sure to catch up with both when I got home, as well as watching the Official Proclamations around the country. I must admit that I do love all this stuff. I'm a huge fan of history and I've always found major historical events like this fascinating. To actually be living through one and experiencing it in real time is really exciting. I love all the pomp and ceremony and traditions. And this feels especially significant because Elizabeth II is the only monarch the vast majority of us have ever known. No offence to Charles, but I'm sure that when he dies it won't feel like quite as major an event. Even though it will still be the death of a monarch and a lot of the traditions and ceremonies will be the same, it just won't have the same significance as this does.
I've also been watching the coverage of her coffin, following its journey to Edinburgh and then London and the processions and services before the Lying-in-State. And while I know many people find it silly to queue up for ages to walk past a box, I must admit that part of me would really like to go to London and do just that. Because it's part of history. Even just being in The Queue is part of history, what with its own YouTube channel and Queue Tracker! But I fear the length of time involved would be too much for me.
I am really glad that my work has decided to close on Monday so I'll be able to watch the whole funeral. I had thought we'd probably stay open and I'd have to record it, but I'm happy to be wrong. And I'm pleased so many other places are doing the same. I think it's important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to watch the funeral as it happens. It is going to be a major historical event, after all!
We had some very nice cocktails. One of Paul's came in a toucan head, which I was very jealous about! We also saw another one come in a Monkey Head, which made me think of Monkey Island, but it turned out to be one that had almond in so I didn't go for it. Cool as it looked, I can't stand almond!
My drinks were more on the elegant side:
And they all tasted really good too, which is the important thing!
We had dinner afterwards and brunch the next morning. This meant that I did miss King Charles's address to the nation and the Accession Council. I made sure to catch up with both when I got home, as well as watching the Official Proclamations around the country. I must admit that I do love all this stuff. I'm a huge fan of history and I've always found major historical events like this fascinating. To actually be living through one and experiencing it in real time is really exciting. I love all the pomp and ceremony and traditions. And this feels especially significant because Elizabeth II is the only monarch the vast majority of us have ever known. No offence to Charles, but I'm sure that when he dies it won't feel like quite as major an event. Even though it will still be the death of a monarch and a lot of the traditions and ceremonies will be the same, it just won't have the same significance as this does.
I've also been watching the coverage of her coffin, following its journey to Edinburgh and then London and the processions and services before the Lying-in-State. And while I know many people find it silly to queue up for ages to walk past a box, I must admit that part of me would really like to go to London and do just that. Because it's part of history. Even just being in The Queue is part of history, what with its own YouTube channel and Queue Tracker! But I fear the length of time involved would be too much for me.
I am really glad that my work has decided to close on Monday so I'll be able to watch the whole funeral. I had thought we'd probably stay open and I'd have to record it, but I'm happy to be wrong. And I'm pleased so many other places are doing the same. I think it's important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to watch the funeral as it happens. It is going to be a major historical event, after all!
