Tag Archives: queen elizabeth

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest, next to her beloved husband Prince Phillip after grand farewell

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Sep 19 (IANS) Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on Monday afternoon began her last journey- 25 mile stretch westward from Westminster Abbey in central London to Windsor Castle in the county of Berkshire, where she spent much of her time in recent years.

There she was to be laid to rest at the royal chapel next to her beloved husband Prince Phillip, who predeceased her in 2021. Only members of the British royal family, led by her successor King Charles III, attended the private ceremony.

Earlier, in an hour long church service at the Abbey, which has existed and expanded since 960 AD and is located in central London, Elizabeth, who reigned for 70 years, was given the grandest of final farewells. She had got married at the same Abbey 75 years ago.

President of India Droupadi Murmu was present at the proceedings. Compared to other Commonwealth heads of government or state, she unassumingly arrived early at the venue, wearing a dark blue silk sari and a cardigan. She took her appointed seat in the midst of 2,000 assembled invitees. On Sunday evening, she attended a reception hosted by Charles and Queen Consort Camilla for 500 foreign dignitaries. Charles greeted the President warmly and was seen engaged in a brief conversation with her.

Queen Elizabeth II/Ians

In an Anglican Christian service, with leaders of multiple religions in the audience, Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth – an organisation near and dear to Elizabeth – read the first lesson from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians about the ressurrection of Jesus Christ. She was followed by the British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who read a passage from John, which said: ‘Let not your heart be troubled…’

Then spoke the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who is the global head of the Church of England. He said: “She (Elizabeth) was present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.”

Emperor Naruhito of Japan, President Joe Biden of the US and President Emmanuel Macron of France were among a galaxy of foreign dignitaries seated either side of the south and north aisles. “I’ll miss her terribly,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among other territories, were among the “realms” where Elizabeth was head of state and Charles now is.

All living former British Prime Ministers and their spouses were noticeable attired in black, like most others.

On what was declared a Bank Holiday, there was no Monday morning traffic in the British capital. Sniffer dogs, though, were busy in the area around the Abbey to prevent any untoward incident.

Queen Elizabeth II/Ians

The live television coverage by BBC was projected on big screens at spacious locations around Britain. Tens of thousands camped overnight in such places to ensure they got a ringside view of the state adieu to Elizabeth. 125 cinemas in the country reportedly showed the ceremonies live as well.

200 other nations, including India, watched simulcasts of the coverage via the BBC World News channel or bbc.com. Foreign TV networks like PBS, CNN and Fox of the US and ABC of Australia, with their own anchors and studio commentators, covered the event in parallel.

The scale of global interest was unprecedented. Increasingly, from 8 a.m., accredited reporters hovered around the Abbey. This day was inevitable and had been planned for years by the royal household. Nevertheless, the organisers gave themselves 11 days’ time between Elizabeth’s death to her funeral to get it right.

At 6.30 a.m., the last of the estimated three quarter of a million mourners filed past the coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament opposite the Abbey. Disruptions on trains arriving in London and parts of the city’s underground system inconvenienced commuters.

Queen Elizabeth II

15 minutes before the service commenced, the coffin was ceremonially moved in a gun carriage with soldiers in accompaniment from Westminster Hall to the Abbey. Charles, his brothers Andrew and Edward, sister Anne and sons William and Harry followed the body on foot.

Finally, the coffin, with Elizabeth’s crown placed on it – as it has been for days – was carried away from the Abbey on the shoulders of soldiers in bright red tunics into a sunny courtyard, which faces London’s Parliament Square, the centrepiece of which is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Back on the gun carriage, Charles and family and soldiers of various armed forces marching around it, Elizabeth embarked on her triumphant last journey via Buckingham Palace, her London home, to the green and pleasant fields of Windsor.

President Murmu to represent India at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in London

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New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu will represent India at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 19.

Murmu will be visiting London from September 17 to 19 to offer condolences on behalf of the Government of India.

Queen Elizabeth, the former head of state of the UK and Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, passed away on September 8.

Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Charles III becomes UK’s new King

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences at the demise of Queen Elizabeth II.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited the British High Commission in New Delhi on September 12 to convey India’s condolences. India also observed a day of national mourning on Sunday (September 11).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered as a stalwart of our times. She provided inspiring leadership to her nation and people. She personified dignity and decency in public life. Pained by her demise. My thoughts are with her family and people of UK in this sad hour.”

“In the 70 years of reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, India-UK ties have evolved, flourished and strengthened immensely. She played an important role in the welfare of millions of people around the world as Head of the Commonwealth,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

India to mourn on Sept 11 as mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth II

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As British Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8th September 2022, India has declared one day State Mourning on September 11 as a mark of respect to her.

Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Charles III becomes UK’s new King

On the day of Mourning, the National Flag will be flown at half mast throughout India on all buildings where the National Flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on the day.

Diana Told Camilla ‘I Want My Husband Back’: Reveal Transcriptions of Tapes

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What happened when British Prince Charles’s late wife Lady Diana met the “Third Person” in their marriage Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom Charles had an affair and she later went on to become his wife upon Di’s demise?

They met at a party and the conversation was similar to what the Bollywood film “Deewar” would have had. When Don Amitabh Bachchan tells his brother Shashi Kapoor that he has got money, power and a bungalow, his police inspector brother retorts:”Mere Paas Maa Hai” (My mother is with me).

Hilarious but Diana tapes too show similar talk between the two as Diana said in her tapes: “Camilla said to me: ‘You’ve got everything you ever wanted. You’ve got all the men in the world falling in love with you, and you’ve got two beautiful children. What more could you want?’ So I said: ‘I want my husband.’” Diana wanted her husband back in every sense like any other married woman.

The transcripts of Princess Diana’s secret tapes sent to Andrew Morton in 1991 for his book “Diana: Her True Story” that came out a year after has been re-published this year (2017) with the transcripts of Diana’s secret tapes included verbatim.

Here are some astonishing facts which came to light now:

Within weeks after the fairy tale marriage in 1981, Princess Diana became so depressed with her marriage life that she tried to cut her wrists in a bid to commit suicide. “By October, I was in a very bad way. I was so depressed, and I was trying to cut my wrists with razor blades. It rained and rained and rained,” she said in the tapes, according to Daily Mail, which has published some excerpts.

From the day of her wedding, Princess Diana was looking over her shoulders for the third person in their marriage — Camilla Parker. She said: “I was obsessed by Camilla totally. I thought every five minutes he was ringing her up, asking how to handle his marriage.”

Another transcript revealed that Diana attempted suicide again while she was just four months pregnant with her first child Prince William. She said she threw herself downstairs, in a bid to get the attention of Prince Charles. Though Queen Elizabeth was horrified, Prince Charles didn’t, she noted wryly.

Next time, she revealed to her sister Jane that she had cut her chest and thighs. “The night before, I’d wanted to talk to Charles about something. He wouldn’t listen to me… So I picked up his penknife off his dressing table and scratched myself heavily down my chest and both thighs. There was a lot of blood — and he hadn’t made any reaction whatsoever,” she said in her tapes.

Next time, Diana threw herself against broken glass window piece and another time cut herself with a knife.

Queen Elizabeth Showed me Gandhiji’s Gift – Khadi Handkerchief: Recollects Modi

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In his Mann ki Baath, PM Narendra Modi recollected the great gift-giving habits around the world and how Queen Elizabeth once showed him a hand kerchief woven in khadi by Gandhiji and sent to her as her wedding gift.

Referring to his Kerala visit recently, Modi said the P.N. Panicker Foundation encourages people to cultivate the habit of reading books and to enhance their awareness towards this, by organising celebrations such as ‘Reading Day’, and ‘Reading Month’. “I had the opportunity to go for the inaugural function, where I was told that instead of bouquets, they gift books. I liked it,” he said.

“When I was in Gujarat, I had set this tradition of welcoming, by not giving bouquets, but books or handkerchiefs instead. And that too, a ‘Khadi’ handkerchief, so that it promotes ‘Khadi’. Till the time I was in Gujarat, this habit had been ingrained in us, but after coming here, I had lost that habit. When I went to Kerala, it was rekindled. I have already begun to issue instructions in the government.”

A bouquet is very short, “You receive it in your hand for a moment and then abandon it. But when you present a book, it becomes a part of the household, a part of the family. One can also use a ‘Khadi’ handkerchief to welcome people, and be a support to the innumerable underprivileged. The expenses are reduced as well, and the gift is well utilized too.”

Recollecting his visit to London, he said Queen Elizabeth had invited him to dine with her and later she showed him a small thread-spun khadi handkerchief. With great respect and in an emotion filled voice, she told him that Mahatma Gandhi had sent this handkerchief to her as a wedding gift. “So many years have passed and yet, Queen Elizabeth has treasured the handkerchief gifted by Mahatma Gandhi. And she was happy to show it to me, when I went there.”

When he gazed at it, the Queen encouraged him to touch it. “A small gift by Mahatma Gandhi, has become a part of her life and a part of history,” he noted.  Modi said he would henceforth encourage people to give books or khadi handkerchiefs or gift. “I cannot say that if I go somewhere and somebody brings a bouquet I will refuse it. No, I won’t do that, but we will talk about it even though there is criticism, and then gradually, the change will happen.”