After the death of Elizabeth II: sandwiches, goats and curious requests

Marching goats, mourning royal bees and sandwiches left at the palace, which caused dissatisfaction with the London Parks Authority: Queen Elizabeth II’s farewell also produced some curious things – an overview.

The British paid tribute to the Queen in front of their palaces with many souvenirs: teddy bears, corgi cuddly toys, wrapped jam sandwiches. But that gives the park authority a headache. She asked on Sunday to refrain from doing so. Only flowers, without plastic protection, should be put down. The park authority Royal Parks must dispose of the material after the funeral services.

“In the interests of sustainability, we ask visitors to use only organic or compostable material,” the agency said on its website. “Unfortunately, gifts and artifacts cannot be accepted and the public is asked not to bring them into the parks.” Candles were also taboo, as the park authority writes. In London, all flowers should be placed in the specially designated memorial area in Green Park near Buckingham Palace.

One last jam sandwich

In memory of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at the age of 96 in Balmoral, Scotland, people had put down teddy bears and jam sandwiches, among other things. The unusual souvenirs pay homage to a surprising acting performance by the Queen, who met for tea with the animated Paddington Bear, known from children’s books and films, for a video clip celebrating her 70th jubilee earlier this year. In addition there were jam sandwiches – just like Paddington’s taste. She always has one in her handbag, the monarch revealed to the bear – and promptly pulled a sandwich out of her fine black leather bag. The clip was shown for the first time at the start of a concert with several British stars, which took place in London on the anniversary weekend at the beginning of June. The crowds in front of Buckingham Palace paid tribute to the Queen’s acting skills with great cheers and applause – the video went viral on social media.

Beekeeper informs royal bees

The royal beekeeper has informed the bees in the grounds of Buckingham Palace of the Queen’s death and the accession of her eldest son Charles. John Chapple (79) told the Daily Mail newspaper that he tied black ribbons around the beehives and gave them the sad news orally. Accordingly, he spoke to the bees in a soothing tone: “The mistress is dead, but do not go away. Your new master will be a good master to you.” The plot goes back to an old superstition according to which the bees would stop producing honey if they were not informed promptly about the change of throne.

Proclamation with goat

The successor to the throne, King Charles III, was also proclaimed king in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Sunday. In the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, the proclamation was read in front of St. Giles Cathedral. In Belfast the bells rang and a trumpeter played. The proclamation was followed by 21 gun salutes.

In Wales, a unit of the Royal Welsh Regiment marched to Cardiff Castle with its mascot, a goat named Lance Corporal Shenkin IV. The proclamations had previously been read in various states of the Commonwealth, in which former British colonies are organized, including Australia and New Zealand. Charles automatically became King of Britain after the death of his mother Elizabeth II on Thursday. The official proclamation is a formal act that respects many traditions.

US website gets a lot of mail – including strange requests

The death of Queen Elizabeth II not only brings a lot of mail to the British royal family, but also to a municipal news website in the USA. The website princewilliamliving.com, which usually reports on things like road accidents, festivals and community projects from the county of Prince William, Virginia, is among the first results when Google users “contact Prince William”. ) enter. Apparently, some users don’t look too closely and say and write to princewilliamliving.com what they actually wanted to say to the British heir to the throne. As a result, the site is currently dealing with a barrage of calls and emails of condolences, including poems, drawings and sometimes odd requests.

Publisher Rebecca Barnes reported on Saturday that about 40 such messages of condolences were received in one day. They come from all over the world, such as India, Bhutan, Japan, Egypt, North and South America and England. “Even people in England don’t know how to google,” joked Barnes. Expressions of condolence are not always selfless. A teenager, who claims to be a huge fan of the Royals, expressed the hope of being invited to the Queen’s funeral. In another message, someone offered to work as a housekeeper for the royals. “I’m a very clean person,” the letter said.

Queen double stops

A doppelganger of Queen Elizabeth II will no longer play her role after 34 years “out of respect” for the late monarch. She will keep the wardrobe she wore on such occasions and may wear it on special occasions, Mary Reynolds told the PA news agency. The 89-year-old had appeared as a queen at events, as well as a few times on television, in commercials or in foreign film productions.

She was asked about her resemblance to Elizabeth when she was 17, Reynolds said. But she only had her first appearance as a double in 1988. Reynolds described her resemblance to the Queen, who died on Thursday, as a privilege. “But now a new era is beginning,” she said. You never met the queen personally. But it felt like she was a family member.

What will become of the royal dogs

As a dog lover, Queen Elizabeth II also leaves behind at least four four-legged friends: Muick, Sandy, Candy and Lissy. Muick and Sandy are corgis. Dogs of this breed accompanied the queen all her life. Now Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, called “Fergie”, take over the animals. Muick was gifted to the Queen by Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie while her husband Prince Philip was hospitalized in early 2021. Sandy also received it from Andrew on June 10, 2021 – the day Philip would have turned 100. The son and granddaughters, who recently walked the dogs again and again, had promised the queen that they would take care of the dogs in the event of their death, the Mirror newspaper reported. It has not yet been clearly clarified what will happen to Candy – a cross between a corgi and a dachshund – and to the Cocker Spaniel Lissy. It was said that Candy could move in with Andrew because she was used to the corgis. Lissy may be taken over by a close servant.

The Queen’s love of corgis, officially Welsh Corgi Cardigan, goes back to Susan, a dog her parents gave her for her 18th birthday. Susan was even allowed to go on a honeymoon. With Susan, the queen began breeding, whose last offspring, Willow, died in 2018.

The Queen in front of the camera

Elizabeth II was also part of pop culture. Millions of people around the world who think of the late Queen see the real Queen in their mind’s eye, but also think of actresses like Helen Mirren or Olivia Colman. Olivia Colman and Claire Foy have portrayed Elizabeth II in the Netflix series The Crown, and Emma Thompson did it in the BBC short film Walking the Dogs (2012). Stella Gonet played the Queen in the Diana film Spencer (2021), Sarah Gadon in the youth film A Royal Night (2015) and Helen Mirren in the acclaimed drama The Queen (2006). What Elizabeth II thought of the numerous productions in which she fictionally starred, including the much-publicized Netflix saga The Crown, has never been made public as the Queen has always maintained her composure and etiquette.

However, the Queen herself has surprised in recent years with appearances in small films, for example with “007” Daniel Craig at the 2012 Olympics in London or – as mentioned – this year with Paddington Bear on her 70th anniversary of the throne. According to sketch writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the Queen had fun filming these comedy clips. “She volunteered for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. We didn’t think she would want that,” Cottrell-Boyce told the BBC. She even asked if she could say something. That was actually not intended at all. At that time she performed with “James Bond” actor Craig. In the 2022 sketch, in which she exchanged ideas with Paddington Bear about emergency jam sandwiches, she “acted properly”. “She really enjoyed it.”