Funeral music

In recognition of the funeral today of Her Majesty The Queen, I offer this most moving music, written for the death of another Queen more than 300 years ago, and first performed at Westminster Abbey, where today’s funeral is being celebrated. The music is by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) for the funeral of Queen Mary II

A sermon

This sermon from Great St. Bartholomew in London, delivered this past Sunday as part of the Requiem Mass for HM the Queen, is quite powerful, and moving, and just lovely. I’ve included the hymn before the sermon too. Don’t mind the lighting. The church is currently being used for filming a motion picture, and they

Edinburgh

With HM The Queen now in repose in Edinburgh, and after watching video of the streets of Edinburgh and Holyrood Palace, my thoughts have turned to the three different visits I’ve made to that royal capital city.

HM The Queen

The Queen is dead. Long live the King. My Anglophile heart grieves. But this is the natural order of things, and we must celebrate a long life well-lived. As for me, I’m glad I got to see her once, in 2009, at the Trooping of the Colour whilst I was on a June visit to

HM The Queen

Yup. This reduced me to a puddle of tears yesterday. Here’s another view, this time with some crowd shots:

The Queen

HM The Queen’s annual Christmas broadcast to the UK and the world:

Elizabeth, the Queen

Book #8 of the year, with many more to come: Sally Bedell Smith’s readable and well-organized biography of Her Majesty The Queen. At more than 500 pages, this was not a puff piece, but it was an easy read about a subject of which I seem to not get enough . . . . Next

Trooping the Colour

I have wonderful memories of the 2009 Trooping of the Colour, HM The Queen’s official birthday celebration every June.  Kyle Acheson and I viewed the festivities and saw the balcony appearance and the fly-over.  And then we had fish & chips and ale at a pub on the other side of Green Park. Here’s the