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Her Majesty the Queen died yesterday afternoon at Balmoral where she had been staying since earlier this summer.                     Though we know that death is an inevitable part of life, when the time comes for a loved one, family member or friend, we are shocked and numerous emotions engulf us as the grieving process proceeds. The Queen had a special place in our hearts, not least because she was 96 years old and had reigned for 70 years.  Waiting for the official announcement of the Queen's death was a strange and unsettling feeling, for me and for many others. When it was made, the sense of shock was no less than if I had known her personally and this is what made our Queen so special. She has been a constant in our lives, during good and not so good times over the years. She has been here for the whole of my life. She has been loved as a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother and I am reminded of my own mother and...

  I have never met the Duke of Edinburgh or even glimpsed him in person, though, as many are saying since his recent death, he has been there for all of my life and his name cropped up in conversation many times. My father met him, one day in 1963, working as a draughtsman in Sunderland at J L Thompsons and the Prince visited  Doxfords , the largest shipyard in the area.  The Duke of Edinburgh (as my family always gave him his full title) had walked down the line of office workers who were waiting to meet him and stopped beside my father, put out his hand to shake his and asked him his name and if he was going on holiday this year and where.  My Dad, being a shy, reticent person, immediately had a memory block and couldn't remember where he was going. This was strange as my parents and we three children almost always went  to Keswick in the Lake District for one week's holiday, during the annual "Shipyard Fortnight".  However, my Dad recovered himself enoug...