The Queen has been a rock for this country and during her lifetime of service my father John Varley whilst working for the Daily Mirror covered numerous Royal visits throughout Yorkshire, of course his task always was to get something different and unique which he often accomplished.
For me personally the touching thing about the Queen was the fact that she always seemed to put people at ease making them feel relaxed in her company and you can see this especially in the photograph taken at Silverwood Colliery in Rotherham, Yorkshire in 1976 as she shared a joke with the coal miners. It’s my favourite photograph of the Queen, notice how just about everyone in the group is smiling.
In 2020 the Queen spoke movingly about the pandemic explaining how the man who crossed the road to help someone in need was of another faith and from another culture and that when we are alone, depressed or feeling unloved, then a simple act of kindness or word can lift us from despair to hope. Of course this analogy comes straight from our Lord Jesus Christ and his story of the Good Samaritan which I understand was her favourite bible story.
Jesus said to his disciples that he had come to serve, not to be served. In her own straight forward way the Queen rose above formality and protocol to be a light in the darkness of our world. The Queen lived and died in the faith of Jesus, she knew in her heart the earth was merely a stepping stone to Paradise.
God Bless Her.