Arcadia England

Queen Elizabeth II passed away just one day after our Fall Center-based students arrived in the UK. Guest blogger Abby Baron (Hamilton) shares her reflections of a moment in history.

Strolling down the aisles of Aldi for the first time, I had no idea I was about to experience history. As I grabbed a loaf of bread I heard a woman beside me gasp. Taking a glance over her shoulder I saw the headline “Queen Elizabeth Pronounced Dead.” I took a step back unsure how to feel. It, of course, had been something I had thought about before leaving. Many of my friends back home in America had joked, “If the Queen dies, you’ll get two weeks off of school.” Now as I stood in the Aldi, I felt a pang of guilt for making such jokes.

However, to my surprise, in the following days, everyone seemed to go about their business. Nothing was canceled and everyone still went to school or work. I found the most interesting aspect about it all was how my friends back home reacted.  I saw instagram posts, stories, and many text messages grieving for the Queen. It seemed in London, really only the news outlets cared.  The night of her passing some of my suitemates put on the news and on every channel there were programs dedicated to the Queen and the wonderful life she lived. In the following days, news outlets and TV programs covered The Queue. The line to see the Queen’s body stretched at least three miles long and had citizens waiting hours. Throughout the city, many citizens paid their respects by placing flowers, cards, and signs for the queen at culturally significant statues and monuments.  I was surprised to see these gifts at the foot of the Statue of Millicent Fawcett, a woman suffragist. I assumed it was because it was one of the only female statues in London.

One day when your children ask about the Queen, you will be able to tell them you were here

On the day of the Queen’s funeral, as anticipated, many stores and businesses closed down and school was canceled for the day. I decided, along with many others in London, to try and get a spot to view the procession for the Queen’s funeral. Many of the tube stations had been closed due to crowding near Hyde Park so my friend and I made the trek, a 20-minute walk, to the park. My friend remarked, “It’s like the Fourth of July in Washington DC!” People had stands selling flags and T-Shirts and the streets were blocked off with barricades.  The crowds were massive and we had to push through masses of people to catch just a glimpse of the parade.  Through overhearing conversation, many people had gone not to pay respect to the Queen, but to be a part of history. There was a young girl with her grandmother in the crowd with me who was complaining about being bored and hot to which the grandmother replied, “Yes, I understand, but one day when your children ask about the Queen, you will be able to tell them you were here.”

Some of the girls on the program with me had actually gone and stood in the queue to see the Queen, and on top of that, stayed the whole time. I interviewed one of them, Lizzy, about it. 

“Why did you want to go?” I asked

“Well, I really love the Queen. She is an icon and we are in London so I had to.” She replied.

“How long did you wait in line?”

“We waited in line for about eleven hours.”

“Was it worth it?”

“In hindsight maybe not, but I’m glad we did it.  It was very tiring but we made some friends in line by talking to the people around us. I mean what else are you supposed to do?”

This video, taken by Greg Parizhsky (Hamilton), shows part of the Queen's final journey past the Royal Albert Hall. Thank you to Abby and Greg for sharing their experiences with us.