Sorry in advance for my bad English.
As a French citizen, I have to agree - and this is quite rare, I assure you, because I politically hate the guy - with our French "Président de la République" about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when he said to England : "To you, she was your Queen, but to us, she was the Queen".
Honestly, he pretty much nailed it right there. To me (and to a lot of French people), queens are almost like fairy tales, they do not really exist nor really matter.
Except Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. To a lot of us, she was the real deal.
I mean, she was always here in my life, since I was born.
She was there when I discovered Pink Floyd's "Shine on a crazy diamond". She was there when I realized how much I loved the beautiful English language at school. She was there when I learned about Winston Churchill leading the English Nation - and basically the whole free world - against Hitler. She was there when I discovered Dr Who's incredible adventures. She was there the day I played Elite on my Amstrad CPC in 86. She was there when I fell in love - for the first time, I kid you not - with a beautiful English red head young girl that I met during the 89's summer in Britanny. She was there when I went to London for the 1st time and visited the incredible British museum. She was there when I read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. She was there when I ate my favourite chocolate cake ever in a bakery near the Tower of London (and coming from a croissants French addict, this does mean something !). Actually, she was always there at the back of my head,since I was born. Every single time I approached the English culture, one way or another. And make no mistake, in France, we are in contact with the English culture all the time.
I could carry on and on, but you get the idea : to me, to a lot of French people, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II embodied England. I know I should say "UK", but let's face it : to the French, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was all about England, we are quite uneducated after all. And I'm not referring to the England we sometimes like to make fun of ("They burned Joan of Arc for X's sake !"), no, no, no : I'm talking about the real England that we love, respect and - secretly, of course - admire.
Because, despite all our differences and wars, many of us know that historically, we are more cousins than enemies. And Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II clearly represented that, too.
My deepest condolences to you, England.
