A small flame flickers near a framed portrait of Elizabeth II, her stoic gaze beneath her tiara, and a register of tributes already covered with a few farewells.
The queen is in white but all hearts are black with mourning that should last, in the small hall of the Anglican church of Saint George in Paris (16th century).
If there are hardly any crowds on this Saturday, at the time of the Eucharist
(one of the two true sacraments in the Anglican Church, with baptism)
, the few faithful who come to pray and take communion in the red brick half-light of Saint George Church epitomizes the grief of millions of Britons.
A grief in which the immense respect for the queen is now tinged with a certain concern.
“It's the end of an era, laments Svetlana, a British of Russian origin living in Paris.
“I was coming back from the States when the Queen died, I came here on Friday, and again today to see if there would be anything a little special”.
A little disappointed perhaps, to find no crowds or armfuls of flowers, this occasional faithful confesses her pain but also her doubts.
“Elizabeth was a kind of quiet river, which distilled its strength with stoicism.
She embodied stability.
Today I am really worried about the future, assures Svetlana, without yet managing to evoke King Charles III other than as “Prince Charles”.
“Will he be up to it?
I think we should find someone else.
"Without being in London, it's good to be able to pay tribute"
"We are orphans today", begins for them the Anglican priest of Saint George.
This is the whole meaning of the farewells also entrusted, since Thursday afternoon, to the register left freely accessible in the tiny entrance hall of this church without a facade, its seal sealed off under the appearance of a building hall. 1970s. 'You are and will remain The Queen', 'Rest in peace', 'What a power, Dear Queen Elizabeth II!
“… Between these brief farewells, a hand covered two whole pages of register saluting “the very great dignity”, “the spirit of duty” or even “the humanity” of Elizabeth II.
"Without being in London, it's good to be able to pay tribute, it's my way of relieving the pain of his family", also believes a regular at Saint George.
The leaders of the Parisian Anglican Church confirm the holding of a celebration dedicated to the late queen, Saturday September 17, at 4 p.m. (7, rue Auguste-Vacquerie, XVIe).
"It will not be a funeral mass but a ceremony of commemoration and thanksgiving", they invite.