Remembering Queen Elizabeth II | Easy English 133

This is the end of an era,  without any doubt at all.

It was a friendly, subdued,  thoughtful, well controlled.

And, obviously people with fond memories

and wanting to be respectful.

And, the atmosphere was dignified.

Well, I can remember when the coronation, in 1953,

that we got a television  specifically for that occasion.

Sense of service and duty,

work ethic, dignity, calmness and diplomacy.

It's someone's mum, it's someone's  gran, it's... it's a family member.

I think she was a real positive role model.

She was always so dignified

and was always there at the big occasions

and led the country really, in a dignified manner.

Hiya, welcome to Easy English.

So as you're probably well aware,

Queen Elizabeth II passed away recently.

So we thought, during this  strange and unique time in the UK,

it'd only be fitting to head down to the beach

and ask the people of Brighton;

what memories they have of her,

during her 70 year reign as Queen.

I'm also interested to know if they'll be watching

the following proceedings including her funeral.

And also, what they think  might change, if anything,

once King Charles takes the throne.

Now before we get started,

please don't forget to subscribe to Easy English.

Or if you want to help support our work,

then become an Easy English member with this link.

Here we go.

The thing that stands out most for me,

was the... the Silver Jubilee,

when I was... would I have been 11, probably.

And, that was a really big celebration. - Okay.

Did you do something for it?

The schools all did something,

I remember being on the back  of like, a carnival truck.

Everyone was dressed in red, white and blue.

Big tea parties in the street.

It was a really big occasion.

I think if you're not from Britain,

you view more The Queen more as like, you know,

the representative of the UK, when, you know...

More than our prime ministers?

More than the prime ministers, yes.

In some ways. - Is that because we've had so many?

I think so. I mean...

and you haven't had the  best run of prime ministers

in the last 15 years, right? - Right.

And so The Queen is a much more like,

kind of, dependable or stable  presence through those years.

In Canada, we have a very  strong feeling for The Queen.

She's visited our country many times.

Very beloved in Canada. - Yeah?

For her devotion to the Commonwealth,

for her hard work in her role and as a role model

for service to things that you believe in.

And, she's always on our postage stamps. - Yeah!

She's a big part of life in Canada,

so we're very sorry to see her pass away,

but by the same token, her legacy is..

is immense and very appreciated.

Well, we've lived through three jubilees, so...

and each one, I think,

has been a reflection of the... I don't know,

high esteem in which she's been held,

purely because of the service that she's rendered.

Incredible really.

She's always managed to devote herself to service,

without ever expressing personal opinions,

which is an amazing feat in itself.

She went to a country show, I believe it was.

And she got extremely excited  when the cows came on,

which made my day.

Because, I don't know...

it was just such a personal moment that sort of,

connected me to her...

as that... as a real person,

that's excited over something  that maybe, you know,

I'd be excited to see for the  first time, kind of thing.

It just goes through your  mind about how much she worked

and how much, little time she probably had

to enjoy being a mother, a grandmother  and all that sort of stuff.

So you're thinking more on  the personal side of things,

as opposed to The... The Queen,  the monarchy kind of stuff?

Oh, she is...

I mean, first and foremost,  she's a human being. - Yeah.

And yeah, I think about that sort of stuff.

I think the thing that I'll  always remember, actually,

about her, is the fact, that when she was dying,

she somehow, managed to get off her deathbed

and stand up and welcome  in the next prime minister;

the 15th prime minister, that she had done.

I think that that summarised  the strength of character

that she actually had, in that,  she knew that it was her duty.

And somehow it looked as though  she was going for the record,

in that, she had welcomed in 15 prime ministers,

from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss.

And when you looked at her,  she was immensely frail

and you could see the bruises on her hand,

which showed that she had been, you know,

getting a cannula or a drip in there.

And yet, she managed to do that.

And that shows immense strength of character

and shortly after that, she died.

And that will be my abiding image of her.

What do you think will change, if anything,

with... with.... now, King Charles?

Seems weird to say that.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Because he's obviously got his own ideas,

on how he's going to lead the  country and reign as our monarch.

But I think, he will probably follow very much

in his mother's footsteps in how dignified he is.

The age he is as well; I wonder  whether he will stay on the throne

as long as she did and see it through to the end,

or whether he will give it up

and hand over to William at some at some point.

So it's interesting,

we watch with interest.

How do you think King Charles will fare,

in comparison to Elizabeth?

I mean, this is what everyone's  been discussing, right?

I mean, Elizabeth was very uniquely,  as a public figure, reserved.

And I'm not sure that this is how King Charles

conducted himself when he was prince.

So it remains to be seen, if  he'll bring the same sort of,

you know, quiet gravitas, as Elizabeth did.

I think he'll try to modernise things.

I think he'll try to support  projects that meet his goals.

He's a well known environmentalist,  for instance. - Yeah.

We were impressed, by the way  to take a solar powered bus

to get here from Brighton.

We don't have solar powered  buses in Vancouver yet,

so we're going to try and take  a lesson from the UK on that.

Yeah, you think he might...

you think he won't face too many hurdles,

in pushing these things forward?

You know, his own interest in,  like you say, environmental...

He's had many years of being  in training for his role.

I'm sure he has quite a  few people that support him

and support his causes.

He'd be well connected, of course.

And so, I think he'll... he'll  have a pretty smooth transition

and be able to realise some of his goals.

But of course, I have no idea.

I hope he will.

And I also think William would make a great king.

I think there might be a slight leaning

towards different charitable causes, if you like,

or just causes themselves.

But I think Charles has been  brought up within that environment

of duty, work ethic and service for all his life.

So I see no reason why that should change at all.

But I think he will probably  bring a slightly different

nuance to the matters of today, if  you like, particularly environment.

What do you think then, if anything,

other than money and stamps la la la...

what will change, once we have King Charles?

Anything, you think?

I think it's hard to tell at  the moment, for me personally,

as I'm not quite connected to it all.

I don't know what's going to change.

But, I think there will be changes.

I think... I think there will be.

It's an era, it's a king, isn't it?

Yeah, it seems big. - Yeah,  it seems like a big deal.

So, it's got to... it's got to  change something, hasn't it.

This is the end of an era,  without any doubt at all.

And we have... most people in this country

have been used to having, just this one monarch.

And, we all think that we  know what Charles is like,

because he's been serving the  longest apprenticeship for...

in possibly, history.

He's starting his new job at a time  when everybody else is retiring.

And we think we know him. And we think, you know,

many people probably think  that he's going to be divisive,

but, that those people who know him,

seem to suggest that he's going  to be quite a good leader.

And, you know, he has to really up his game,

if he's going to make the monarchy  relevant in modern society.

Will you be watching the the funeral on Monday?

Yes, I will. - You will.

It's such... it's such an historic  kind of event, isn't it? - Yeah.

And has obviously, been planned for a long time.

What... how they were going to play it out and...

Right, yeah. - All of the official  kind of, way they do everything.

So, it will be interesting to watch.

Will you be maybe, watching the funeral Monday?

I think... I was supposed to  be going to London on Monday,

which I won't be any more. - That'll be hectic.

Hectic, yeah, a little bit  scary in London, for that.

But, I think I'll probably watch it, yeah.

Oh yeah? Okay. - I'll watch it because,

I've got lots of friends that  seem to be upset by the situation.

And, even though there's a  lot of controversy around it,

I believe the... you know,

it's someone's mum, it's someone's  gran, it's... it's a family member.

And not only that, it's... it's you know,

it's going to be a big celebration.

It's going to be a beautiful moment for...

for tele, I guess.

To be honest, I think I'll try to go

and at least crowd spectate, just 'cos like...

Oh, you might go to London, to go watch?

Yeah, I mean, actually last week, I was in London

and I went outside to see it's  like, St Paul's Cathedral.

But it's just interesting from a,

let's say, sociological  perspective, to people watch,

you know, what's happening. - Oh, wow.

Okay well, I hope you have...

Well, I was going to say; I  hope you have a nice time...

Is it a... is it a nice...

I think it probably will be  though, right, you'd think?

I think so, yeah. I guess so.

I mean, you know, it is  something where many people

are coming together and sharing  an emotional experience.

Which, outside of concerts,

is not sort of the norm in modern society, right?

So, it's an interesting experience.

Thanks for watching this week's episode.

Please let us know, in the comments below,

your thoughts and memories of Queen Elizabeth II

and then we'll see you next week,

Te-ra.