Editor's note:
Mari Rodríguez Ichaso has been a contributor to Vanidades magazine for several decades.
She is a specialist in fashion, travel, gastronomy, art, architecture and entertainment, a film producer and a style columnist for CNN en Español.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely his own.
Read more opinion pieces at cnne.com/opinion
(CNN Spanish) --
There have been many emotions, and extraordinary images, in this historic week since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Personally, I have been glued to television, like millions of people around the world.
And though Elizabeth II was already 96 years old—just 3 months ago she joyfully celebrated her Platinum Jubilee and we saw her in apparent good health on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and some of the wonderful celebrations—and how she has been in our lives seemingly forever , this long farewell has happened when no one expected it.
Hence it is a shock.
And the reaction to this departure has been an amazing outpouring of love and affection around the world.
A unique moment.
And more than moving samples of the love of his people to the sovereign that they have had for 70 years and 214 days.
And as many on TV have said, they are gestures of genuine affection for his much-loved grannie —grandma— of the British.
One of the most exciting images we have seen were precisely the last photos of the sovereign at Balmoral Castle in Scotland - fragile, thin, dressed in the typical Scottish skirt of the area, but very smiling - officially receiving the new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Those photos have appeared again and again since her death and they give me great tenderness, because only hours before her last goodbye Elizabeth II did what marked her 70 years on the throne of the United Kingdom: do her duty and be a good sovereign for his people.
A gesture that may have been physically very difficult for him, in the photos you could see large bruises on one hand.
A day and a half later, his doctors announced his concern for his health and the royal family rushed to his side.
He passed away hours later.
From then on, what is happening and what will happen on the day of the state funeral, September 19, will make us witnesses of history.
Witness great tributes in all the countries and territories that make up the United Kingdom.
She dies in Scotland, in her favorite home, Balmoral Castle, where she was especially loved.
Beautiful tributes take place in Edinburgh, and thousands of citizens, from children to the elderly, were seen queuing for hours to see her coffin at St. Gilles Cathedral, where her 4 children stood guard of honour.
It was very moving to see Princess Anne, her only daughter (who is said to be heartbroken) take a bow as her mother's coffin entered the family palace of Holyroodhouse.
And, the next day, the dramatic image of the coffin arriving at night, in the middle of the London rain, entering for the last time through the gates of Buckingham Palace - which was his main home, as monarch, for 70 years and 214 days—where the coffin spent its last night before the official funeral, personally brought me to the brink of tears.
And all this leads me to tell you about the deep feelings of sadness that must have accompanied Elizabeth II for just over a year, when she lost her beloved husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died at the age of 99, on April 9, 2021. I remembered those images, alone in a pew at St. George's Chapel, in Windsor, in the midst of the pandemic, an image of the greatest loneliness and pain.
And it is obvious that the physical decline of the sovereign began then.
A broken heart could hasten the worst...
He lost a lot of weight and the enormous sadness that he tried to overcome, seeing him smiling and apparently happy with his colorful dresses and hats, which perhaps hid the loneliness and pain of having lost the love of his life.
Because from the time she was a teenager—until the last of her days, together for almost 74 years—she would believe that Elizabeth was head over heels in love with her handsome Prince Charming!
From my point of view, you only have to see the photos when they were together to notice the love and admiration that the queen felt for her husband.
Her death, according to many, no doubt broke his heart, but still the queen pressed on, doing her duty, as Philip of Edinburgh, I think, would have expected of her.
And now, at the end of it all, we see that her 4 children and many grandchildren (hopefully the rapprochement for William and Harry's event has caused the reconciliation that she, it seems to me, so desired) have been well trained in this sense of duty.
And the acts of her last goodbye are proving it.
Including the heartfelt words and genuine sadness from her eldest son, the new King Charles III, whom everyone has so far shown great love and a warm welcome to!
Welcome that has also been genuinely extended to Camila, now queen consort, named after Elizabeth II herself, acknowledging the happiness that this woman —who was so hated 20 years ago— now shares with her son, her son Carlos.
And although these days the protocol is strict, and the typical British pageantry has been present, there are deep feelings and wonderful emotions in everything that is happening.
Including seeing the whole family walking behind the sovereign's coffin from Buckingham to Westminster Hall, where thousands of citizens are already passing by to pay tribute to her monarch.
We will see a state funeral that Elizabeth II herself planned and organized in great detail!
And that in her last wishes she was very generous with the people who loved her.
And a time when the unity of citizens and territories is paramount —the same between sympathizers and non-sympathizers of the monarchy— who have been united by her admiration for the queen.
To a woman who since she was 25 years old —recently married and devastated by the sudden death of her father, King George VI, from whom she inherits the throne— lived to fulfill the promise she made, to dedicate her life, “be it long or short, to serve his people” and do his duty.
Admiration that is palpable and guided the feelings of millions of citizens for all these years.
This is a story of affection towards a queen who never caused scandals and deeply loved the family that continually gave them to her.
A woman who knew the happiness of love as well as tears.
And who until the last moment showed great dignity, hand in hand with that open smile that we will miss.
For all that, with deep admiration and sadness we thank
you “Thank you ma'am!”
.
God Save the Queen!