Ottawa residents reflect on life of Queen Elizabeth II

Crowds filled Ottawa’s downtown to say a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth II.

Rachel Hobley was there with her husband and son. She moved to Canada from the United Kingdom two years ago. “I was just thinking of the funeral I was watching earlier. (The Queen was) just a dignified woman.”

She said it was important for her to come out in person to say goodbye.

“It felt like I could be part of it, not being in the U.K., it felt like I could honour her here. She was just such a good figure head. Dignified, inspirational, lead the U.K. so well.”

The military parade followed the state funeral in London. It left Cartier Square Drill Hall just after noon, travelling from the Queen Elizabeth Driveway to Elgin Street and then onto Wellington Street to Christ Church Cathedral.

The parade saw RCMP officers on horseback and members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The Queen’s flag wrapped around a pillow was carried.

JoAnne Mead Cramer made the trip from Brockville. “I was just thinking about how privileged we are to have had such a wonderful monarch as the Queen of Canada,” she said.

Cramer said the Queen would be missed.

“She was the Queen of Canada. From childhood, my parents installed in us a sense of the great constitutional monarchy we are privileged to have as a form of government in Canada, so I wanted to honour her as my late Queen and also her legacy as a virtuous woman whose character I aspire.”

Capt. Fraser Clarke, a member of the Queen’s ceremonial guard, took his two young sons to the procession. “It is a significant occasion that only happens once in a lifetime,” he said.

Clarke said he wants his sons to learn the significance of the crown in Canada. “I felt it was important to show our own appreciation for the service that she gave us, and the example she set.”

Many military veterans who lined the streets of Ottawa, including Col. Thomas Mackay. “The Queen served us for so very long and so selflessly, so the least I can do it stand out here and watch the parade and take a moment to reflect on her life and service,” he said.

Others said the Queen has been a constant in their entire lives, and today was an appropriate way to say goodbye in person.

“She was very special,” said Lucy Levesque. “I was a young girl in the U.K. when she was young, so we kind of grew together.”