was enjoying a last pint by the river in Newark-on-Trent on the final day of my English holiday when Buckingham Palace made the to announce that Her Majesty had sadly passed away at age 96. While it was tempting to stay on in the UK to witness first-hand the outpouring of love and grief for a woman who has been a constant for generations of people around the globe – she was “everybody’s grandmother”, as Prince William has since observed – I felt duty-bound to return to Aotearoa to help the team pay tribute to our remarkable sovereign and her incredible 70-year reign. A working mother, a loving wife, and a doting grandmother and great-grandma, above all, the Queen has been a shining example of dignity, loyalty and grace. If, as Her Majesty once said, “grief is the price we pay for love”, then she has been worth every tear shed.
