[bkman1990]

My god. What a few days difference a story like this makes.

I was only watching a BBC documentary narrated by Queen Elizabeth II reflecting her 70 years on the throne as Queen of England. This documentary was shown on RTÉ One in Ireland last Thursday night.

And when I had a look at the breaking news reports from the BBC News & The Guardian apps on my phone; then that moment hit me.

I was left in stunned silence for a few moments before I had to inform my mum about the sad news about Queen Elizabeth's passing at about 6:30pm this evening.

I had not looked at the British channels so far when the official announcement about Queen Elizabeth's passing broke through the news wires this evening.

However I did see a half time mark of respect being observed among the players in the Zurich and Arsenal Europa League match just after the news broke in the UK. I was watching this match on Virgin Media Two in Ireland earlier this evening.

An Irish commentator had mentioned to the viewers of the match that Queen Elizabeth the II has passed away and a moments silence had to be observed by both teams and fans at the match in Switzerland. It was very surreal before it happened on screen. The management of both teams must have got the official word from UEFA that Queen Elizabeth II was no longer with us.

The players & management at Arsenal had to wear black armbands before the 2nd half of the match as a mark of respect. I thought it was very well put together when considering the difficult circumstances.

The recent BBC documentary on The Queen that was on RTÉ One last Thursday is called Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen. I would assume given today's sad events; this documentary will be shown again on the BBC's blanket schedules & on BBC iPlayer from tonight? It was first shown during the lead up to 70 year celebrations on the reign of her monarchy. It was a really good documentary on both her public & private life as Queen of England.

All I can say is that I hope that Queen Elizabeth has a really good send-off by the people of Britain in the next few days. She has left a remarkable legacy in her 70 year reign as Queen of England.

May she Rest in Peace.