WALA LANG
I’ve bowed before Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, Morocco’s King Hassan bin Muhammad, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito and Queen Sofia of Spain. Regretfully though, I never saw Queen Elizabeth II in person and the closest I got to British royalty was when Princess Margaret visited Manila in 1980.
The state dinner was held in Malacañang and the Princess was late. The British Ambassador shook his head, saying, “Late again!” Margaret sauntered in, practically dragging her handbag with one hand and a bouquet with the other. She was sloshed and at some point raised her glass in a toast, a large whisky.
I almost saw Queen Elizabeth the last time I was in London. I was on a map quest organized by the Philippine Map Collectors Society (PHIMCOS). The British Library brought out Philippine-related maps and documents as did the Natural History and National Maritime Museums in Greenwich. From there I took a boat ride on the Thames getting off at Westminster. Walking toward Trafalgar Square, I missed seeing the Queen who was at a Horse Guards Parade event that had just ended.
LONGEST-REIGNING MONARCH Queen Elizabeth II lying in state at Westminster Hall (Google images)
My consolation is that I’ve been to the two places where prayers were offered for her eternal rest.
Long lines of grieving subjects paid their respects to the Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall, the thousand-year-old structure that is part of the Palace of Westminster, the UK’s legislative building housing both House of Commons and House of Lords.
Funeral services were held at nearby Westminster Abbey where Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953. From the upper gallery one can view the length of the church from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the altar and the Lady Chapel where the first Elizabeth rests. To the side is the Poet’s Corner with the tombs or memorials of writers from Geoffrey Chaucer to John Masefield.
The stars were in alignment. It turned out that my hotel, the Grange Strathmore in South Kensington, was the house of the Earl of Strathmore, Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather. It’s nicely located on Queen’s Gate Garden, walking distance to two tube stations, the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Brompton Oratory, a Catholic church.
The next best thing to seeing the Queen is visiting the places where she lived. Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are open to the public. On visitor routes are the large salons where Queen Elizabeth II charmed visiting heads of state.
Hanging in the Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery are great masterpieces by the likes of Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Dyck. The separate Queen’s Gallery organizes exhibits drawn from the Royal collection. That time there was an India exhibit with drawings, miniatures, jewelry, sculpture, and other exquisite objects.
St George’s Chapel where the Queen was laid to rest is at Windsor. She lived in a private wing parallel to the magnificent state apartments where a hall is hung with portraits of the leaders who defeated Napoleon.
Members of the Royal Family hold office at St. James Palace, a red brick building near Buckingham Palace. It’s closed to the public but one can glimpse the courtyard from the street. Diploments are accredited to the “Court of St. James.” Some senior royals live in Kensington Palace, residence of Kings and Queens before Queen Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace. Its state rooms are museum rooms open to the public.
The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror more than a thousand years ago and has served as a palace and a prison. The Crown jewels are there in the super secure Jewel House.
The next oldest existing royal structures are Hampton Court Palace that dates from the time of Henry VIII (he with the six wives) and the Queen’s House in Greenwich. The Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace is an enormous high chamber used for grand occasions since Tudor times. The magnificent Royal Chapel is also from the 16th century as is the Haunted Gallery where the ghost of Queen Catherine Howard (Henry VlII’s wife no. 5, beheaded for adultery) is said to appear, screaming. Other parts of the Palace house reception and private rooms from the Stuart and Georgian periods.
After admiring the treasures of Maritime Museum at Greenwich, I checked out the Queen’s House. It was built by King James I in the early 1600s for Queen Anne. It’s a beautiful little palace, Britain’s first classical building, now a museum of art and history.
The Queen is dead, long live the King!
Note: The Grange Strathmore Hotel is a case study of the adaptive use of heritage structures. The former reception rooms on the ground floor were intact in their grand proportions as the hotel lounge and dining room, while the large upstairs rooms were made into suites, large rooms divided and bathrooms inserted. As a listed building, decorative details were preserved and above my room’s bed, for example, was a quarter of a circular wreath fashioned with plaster, The other three quarters were in the next room and above the ensuite, corridor and closets of mine.
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