Where were you when you found out The Queen had died?

[junkdrawer]

I always found it fascinating when my parents could pinpoint a particular period in time when someone famous passed away. I was young when Princess Diana died and so don't remember anything about it.

When the Queen died, I was at my favourite hotel abroad. My husband told me at dinner.

The hotel had beautiful tributes around the lobby within hours, the theatre had sky news playing on a massive screen and the flags outside were taken down aside from the Union Jack which was flown at half mast.

Getting on a bus with my DD and DGD (aged 15). My DGD turned to me as we sat down and said 'The Queen has died'. I thought I'd misheard her at first.

I was just leaving for class. Simultaneously had two texts- one from ds2 to say it was on the news and one from DP, showing the flag flying at half mast at Buckingham Palace. (He was on duty there).

I can't remember where I was when I heard about Princess Diana though.

Oh my goodness. That has sent a shiver down my spine.

I rushed home after work expecting the news of her death to be announced at 6pm.

I carried on watching BBC 1 for a bit then just before 6:30 I went in to the kitchen to put the oven on. I walked back in to the living room to see the flag being lowered and shouted up to DH who was in the bath.

Diana- I was up early hours for my summer job, at first they said she was just in an accident, and was injured. Then a bit later we had stopped for a tea break and they said she had died. Bizzarly-as we were working such odd shifts, I can clearly still remember eating tuna and cucumber sandwiches for breakfast.

The Queen- I was stuck in a traffic jam, inside a tunnel. Tbh I was expecting it, but when they said the King was staying in Balmoral it floored me for a moment. I hadn't considered Charles would instantly be King. In my rear view mirror the passenger in the car behind was crying & a lorry driver did 3 long blasts of his horn.

Diana - I was living in Ankara, Turkey heavily pregnant with DS25 and my then Father in Law came rushing back from the Coffee House and told me ‘your princess is dead’ - it was a hot day and it was surreal and totally unexpected.

The Queen - It was coming towards the end of a shift at work - I was actually getting a lady ready for bed and she was perched on the loo naked - we were chatting about the Queen not being well - my colleague came into the bathroom and told us - we were all gutted. This lady remembered King George.

Trying to get the DCs ready for bed in the bathroom whilst watching iPlayer on my phone. I knew it was coming, just a case of when they would announce it so I had the news on all afternoon. I had to pick DCs up from nursery just before 6 and was desperately hurrying them into the car thinking the announcement would come then and wanted the radio on. DH was off to run a training session and I shouted out the bathroom window at him as he was wheeling his bike down the garden path.

Walking the dog when breaking news flashed up. We had a slow walk that evening

At work.

At home I hadent been watching the news all day which is unusual ,and was watching loads of recorded episodes of classic corrie ,and when i finished an episode, there was a picture of her saying Queen Elizabeth 1926-2022 ,so I immediately turned on the news, obviously at 96 it wssent a massive shock, but certainly the end of an era
When Diana died I was in bed ,was on a late shift that afternoon, my mum came in my room to tell me .

On my sofa, I had painted the bedroom and had the TV on in there. It was clear from the first announcement that this was it, so rather than sitting on my arse I did something productive. After cleaning up, I sat and had the TV on and was scrolling through Twitter, the official announcement I saw on there about a minute before Huw Edwards did. It had already 2.5k retweets when the announcement came. I'm not a monarchist, but burst into tears. Sent a friend a WhatsApp.

Diana - I was in bed, having stayed over at a friend's house... their flatmate came rushing in early Sunday morning to tell us Diana had died and I remember telling him not to be such a dick as I thought he was winding us up.

The Queen - I had just woken up at 5.30am (so Thur 8.30pm GMT), checked BBC News for an update and saw the banner. I'd stayed up late the night before watching the news as it was clear things were serious but hearing that she'd died was still a huge shock, and I felt hugely emotional.

In a hotel in rural Scotland. We were watching TV and the news came up. Randomly I had seen King Charles the day before. His helicopter had landed in a field in the stables behind the hotel to attend a local function and we had gone to watch and greet him. All very weird...

At work as a midwife. Was watching the news on my phone before bringing the next woman in. Spoke to her partner about it whilst she was out doing a urine sample. Felt very surreal and a bit like a dream, which is weird seeing as it's not my relative. Something very poignant about a death occurring, then having to go straight to preparing for a new life entering the world.

I'd gone to the shop to get some milk and other bits.
The national anthem was playing on the radio when I started the car.

I was a baby with Princess Diana so don't remember that whatsoever.

Diana - in bed, Sunday morning. Turned the radio on and Classic FM was playing solemn music (not unusual for Sunday morning) then the news. Chatted to my mum who lived in Australia - she had the news on and we were watching exactly the same news clips.

Queen - sitting on the sofa watching BBC, hoping she'd rally but by the of course she was already dead. Brother in Oz phoned - he'd been out to lower the flags at the RSL - and we sat talking with the news on and watching exactly the same news clips.

With my son in a queue of traffic in Sale, on our way to a match at Old Trafford.

At the dinner table. Alexa told us…

Wow that's a sign of the times isn't it?

DH and I were smoking on the back step after work discussing Graham Potter leaving Brighton and we heard it on the radio. I shed a little tear as it felt like the world had slightly shifted on its axis.

Princess Diana, I couldn't sleep and heard about the accident. I obviously did sleep because a friend rang to tell me and I was cross she'd woken me up. Again I cried, not because I loved her but because two young boys had lost their mother that they hadn't seen for weeks.

I was a sleepy teenager with Diana. My brother had a paper round so once he was done he came home and told my parents. My dad then woke me up and put the TV on in my room and I moaned about it saying something like "why do I want to see the prime minister?" as his face appeared on the screen. It wasn't immediately obvious who he was talking about so I actually thought it was the Queen Mother who had died at first.

On our hotel room terrace in Majorca.
Diana I was at home.

On my bed, playing with my baby whilst also checking my phone. Scrolling through Facebook was how I found out.

I was out for dinner on holiday in Gibraltar, we'd come out for National Day. It was surreal as all the bunting and flags were up everywhere ready for the celebrations on Saturday and they were all taken down overnight and the official celebrations cancelled.
Seemed quite a fitting place to be as they are so patriotic.

At my desk at work. I kept refreshing the BBC homepage as I was fairly sure that she had already died early in the afternoon and so was just waiting for the news to be released.

Singing happy birthday to our dog when my bbc app buzzed. Will be an easy date to remember!