moved, the British of Provence react
His Majesty’s subjects, in Provence and across the Channel, are in mourning. Whether they are residents of France or passing through, they were very attached to Queen Elizabeth, who died this Thursday shortly after 7:30 p.m., at Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, at the age of 96.
“I grew up with the Queen. Since my childhood, she has always been my monarch“, slips Nickie Warren, 72-year-old Briton. Born in London, she moved to France twelve years ago, in the Luberon.
She said to herself”very sad“to learn of the death of Elizabeth II, this Thursday, September 8, at the age of 96.”She was part of my story“.
“My earliest memory is of the Queen’s coronation when I was three“, she continues, memory intact: “I was sitting on my mother’s lap. We watched this on a very small screen, in black and white“.
For Céline, 49, living in Marseille, the news is also “a little shock”. “In my life, I have known only the Queen, like many people. He is a person who has always been present. She played an essential role, and made it possible to unite the countrybelieves this Franco-British. Even though I haven’t lived in England for a long time, it’s weird. I don’t realize at the moment“.
“Living this moment from afar is surprising. I was in England when Diana died. It was a lot of emotion. It may be the same, or even more important.“.
Russel Aggus, an English exchange student in Marseille, says to himself “hit” Corn “nothing more”. “I think that the younger generation does not have the same attachment to the queen as my parents, or my grandparents for example”.
Same neutrality with Alix, 45, British living in Marseille for six years. “I am sorry for his family and loved ones, but it only affects me slightly. I am not in favor of the monarchy. The period that will follow, that of transition, is likely to be interesting, on the other hand“.
Elizabeth II was very attached to France. She only made one visit to Provence. It was 44 years ago, on the occasion of his second official trip to France, after that of 1957.
On May 15 and 19, 1972, accompanied by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, the queen, then 46 years old, made an express visit to Arles, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Les Baux and Avignon.
In the city of the Popes, the royal couple and their suite of 36 people were cheered by a compact crowd gathered in the streets of the city.
An event that is remembered and recalled by this tweet from the South Region with a photo of the Queen in the streets of Avignon.
Beyond this flash passage, the queen marked the Provençals. On Twitter, several local political figures reacted to his death.
“A page of history is turning, and with it, a part of our lives“, tweeted the president of the South Region Renaud Muselier.
Another reaction that of the senator of Hautes-Alpes, Jean-Michel Arnaud:“We have just learned of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96. As Commissioner for European Affairs, I would like to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the British people and the Royal Family. Requiescat on the beat.”
Also on Twitter, Bouches-du-Rhône senator Stéphane Ravier notes: “Queen Elizabeth II embodied the best of the United Kingdom and of European civilization. She will have marked the history of her country and of Europe, and for the best. How many heads of state can say the same? Queen is dead, long live the King.”
The president of the Aix-Marseille Metropolis and the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Martine Vassal, greets the one who will have been “the queen of a century“, “became the most famous sovereign in the world despite her legendary discretion“.
Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, was also moved by a tweet, welcoming the one who was “A character from the film of our lives”.
About 150,000 Britons residing in France and 86,000 have a second home in the territory. They constitute one of the main foreign tourist clienteles.