'I’d write to her on birthdays, jubilees. Every single time I'd get a reply' — Cork native on correspondence with queen

Joss Baker says Queen Elizabeth 'was an absolute icon'.

Joss Baker hails from Greenmount Crescent in Cork City but, for the last 40 years has been living in England.

She is among the millions of people who will be tuning in on Monday for the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

And she does so after a long record of correspondence, and a long period of admiration, for Britain’s oldest serving monarch.

“I’d write to her on birthdays, jubilees, when there were more additions to her family, when her late husband retired,” she said. 

“Every single time, I’d get a reply.” 

Ms Baker is effusive in her praise for the queen, and said her death has affected her deeply.

“She was an absolute icon,” she said. “She was down-to-earth, had a great sense of humour, and a great sense of kindness. 

Nobody will ever follow in her footsteps. She was born to reign, but took it all in her stride.” 

Cork native Joss Baker

It was this depth of feeling so many people felt for the late queen, such as many of the Irish in Britain, that was highlighted by Taoiseach Micheál Martin as he spoke to reporters in the Irish embassy.

Just an hour before, he and his wife Mary were joined by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina as they paid their respects at the queen's coffin in Westminster Hall.

President Michael D Higgins signs a book of condolence at Lancaster House in London. Picture: Jonathan Hordle

“It is a very significant moment in history, a very sad moment for the people of the United Kingdom,” he said. “And many Irish amongst them who have lived their lives in Britain.” 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin signs a book of condolence at Lancaster House in London on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Hordle

Ms Baker, who lives in Dorchester, said the queen had been a constant in so many lives, and her passing had brought out some very personal feelings close to home for many.

“It’s brought people back memories of their own mam and their own dad,” she said. 

Memories of people who passed away. She couldn’t go on forever, but a lot of people are saying she more than fulfilled her duty.” 

On the platform for the London Underground Jubilee line train at Baker Street station, the departure board urged people not to join the queue to see the queen lying in state at 10am on Sunday morning.

She is due to lie in state until 6.30am on Monday morning, but people are being warned that access could close at any moment.

At Bermondsey station, hundreds of people pile off the tube and all follow the same path out of the station to join the end of the queue anyway. They have what could be a 14-hour wait ahead of them.

One of them is Augustine Cole, who has travelled from Nigeria.

He had just been there for his own mother’s funeral, but felt he had to come to London to get a chance to see the queen.

“I wasn’t born here [in England], but my sisters were,” he said. “And my mother and father lived here for 15 years. I said it is my privilege to come here to be part of this history.

The queue does not matter. The reason we are here is because the queen was a very good woman. She was a human being, like us, with compassion.

“King Charles now is going to carry the soul of the nation”.

Britain's King Charles III,  Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward mount a vigil around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Also towards the end of the queue is Sophie. She has an Irish surname, but asks me not to use it.

She had the opportunity in recent days to come, but decided not to until this morning.

“I’ve been up here the last couple of days, to be honest,” she said. 

But I just decided, yeah, I had an urge to do it. And thought if I don’t, I’d lose that chance and won’t get to see her.” 

People in the queue brought sandwiches, drinks, and chairs. Further along, the food stalls are all open along the Southbank, the public toilets are set up, and there’s the occasional bench.

It has not been without incident, either. The London Ambulance Service said it has cared for more than 1,000 people along the route since Wednesday, with 136 people taken to hospital.

The general mood from the queue, which had even been getting its own weather forecasts from the BBC, is that the passing of such a totemic figure should be marked in a significant way.

A woman wipes her eyes as members of the public view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Markus Schreiber/PA Wire

Andrew Goff, from Oxford, says he has been “sucked into it”.

Andrew Goff, Elodie Wilkinson-Goff, Patrick Arnold, and Hannah Arnold.

“I didn’t think I’d watch a live stream of people passing by a coffin,” he said. “But I am.

“I’m in awe of people waiting and queuing for so many hours to come across a coffin and to get emotional when they see her. There’s so much emotion because she’s been completely faultless in the way she’s conducted herself her entire life. 

It’s respect. It’s not just because she’s royalty, it’s because of what she’s done.” 

But that is not to say there is a homogenous grief in the air. The death of the queen isn’t making everyone feel the same way. But it is provoking a reaction.

Nick Davies, 31, from Brighton, says he has little affection for the royal family, but has found himself affected by the queen’s passing.

“Uncertainty and division are growing in the UK, but for the most part, the queen was a figure to unite factions and command respect,” he said.

In the past 10 days we have instated a new prime minister and a new head of state. Both would do well to take on the advice the queen would no doubt have passed on.” 

The pomp and solemnity on show, with the blanket media coverage and the deeply odd stories emerging such as Center Parcs initially announcing it would turf out guests on the day of the funeral, can seem a bit alien to an Irish audience.

But, as the Taoiseach pointed out, there are deep-held and warm feelings for Queen Elizabeth on this side of the Irish Sea just as there are on the British side. Memories of her Irish visit in 2011 — culminating in her time in Cork — have lived long in the memory, and will likely continue to.

A child sleeps as she is being carried in the queue of people to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth. Picture: Emilio Morenatti

And the event in central London is not among some of the weirder tributes people may have seen on social media. Not every shop has a tribute to the queen in the window. Normally busy London thoroughfares have been just as busy this weekend. It is not like life has completely stopped. It is still going on.

At the same time, this weekend was the public’s last chance to play their role in this spectacle, this part of history. In the queue, and at Green Park where thousands more turned out to bring floral tributes, they got that chance in a very public way.

Members of the public place flowers in Green Park following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire

The spectacle of these tributes to Queen Elizabeth will likely live long in the memory, as surely will the events as they unfold on Monday.