The Best Friend and I made a rather spontaneous trip up to Green Park four days before the State Funeral to view the thousands of floral tributes left in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
And what we found was simply astonishing and slightly overwhelming.
People had obviously gone to a lot of trouble. There were cuddly Paddington Bears, framed drawings/poems/portraits of HM and personal notes.
I took a small bunch of sunflowers, tied with string, and included my own note. I hope that my note didn’t come across as mawkish or overly trite, because I tried hard to express myself without too much sentimentality.
And what to wear? Should I smile? Is it okay to take a photo of me with my flowers? Can I manage to avoid any TV cameras and/or journalists?
I went with smart casual and trainers for comfort. The smile is unsure. Yes it was okay to take a photo. There weren’t any TV crews, as it happened – they were probably down at the queue snaking along the South Bank.
In short, viewing the tributes was much more moving than I had expected it to be, and I’m glad that I went.
This West London Life 
I think that having served in one of her military services the words on your note were absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing the photos, they really show the amount of floral tributes that were left. Laying flowers is a moment of reflection and celebration of a life well lived and I think a photo was easily justified especially when it will be included in your album that records the memorable moments of the year.
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Thank you – I was concerned that you would all think I had been a little OTT. 🙂
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I agree with Deb’s comment, your tribute of flowers & words were perfect. The ability to be there & capture a photo of a moment in history will be treasured in years to come.
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Thank you! 🙂
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I just had some pictures of the queen printed for my tribute layout. Had I been there, I would have pain my respects in person too! A friend from Nottingham gave me my very first copy of the Daily Mail–all about the queen. I can’t wait to dive in!
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I am thinking about how my layout might look – it definitely needs recording for posterity.
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Lovely. I think your whole “pilgrimage”, including the dedication on the flowers, was perfectly tasteful (not that it should matter what we think – it was a personal thing between you and ER.) I wrote some facile nonsense in the book of condolence that I signed and wished I’d had more time to think about it! I also think it is natural to want to record the event with photos as long as one doesn’t treat the whole thing like just another tourist attraction. On a related matter I may have been the only one who felt that the demeanour of some of the Royals on some of the meet and greets during the mourning period was rather too jolly; they could have been warm and appreciative without all the joking and cheesy grins … but that was just my POV.
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Thank you. Re the royals out and about, the pressure on them must have been incredible. Perhaps they felt grins and jokes were preferable to tears and snotty noses.
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