I have never felt more proud of being Britsh than at this time of mourning for the passing of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. The respect and grace that the state funeral gave her is fitting of such an amazing woman whose pledge to serve all her people for however long she lived was surely fulfilled.  I have never known a time without the Queen and I remember like many people, standing by the roadside waving my flag in the town  in which I was born in the North of England. She toured much of England just after the coronation and it is a memory that I have never forgotten. All children were given a memento of a spoon and a beaker. I don't have mine anymore but I remember them well. My cultural history of royalty goes way back and is etched in the cells and bones in my body. It is part of my cultural identity and I have loved the monarchy all my life. Though I have lived in Australia for the past fifty years and love it , my heart of hearts belongs to England.