On Monday, September 19, the Queen's funeral took place in Westminister Abbey and was watched by billions of people across the globe. Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 at Balmoral, her Scottish residence, and was the world’s longest-serving monarch. Her death prompted worldwide mourning and led one person to pay their respects to the Queen in a less traditional way - by flying their aircraft over the Gower, writing E2R in the sky.
This is one of many tributes made to the Oueen from people across the nation. Since the Queen died on Thursday, September 8, mourners have paid their respects by leaving flowers, knitted versions of the late monarch and her friend Paddington Bear and, marmalade sandwiches kept "for later", which were left at Balmoral in Scotland and Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday, using their Cessna 172C Skyhawk aircraft, the person gave a personal send-off to the Queen, by flying a route that spelt out EIIR in the sky. The aircraft, registered as G-ARYK, flew from Swansea (SWS). The flight took the person one hour and 33 minutes to complete their special tribute. They started the flight at 12.44am and landed back in Swansea airport at 2.17pm.
Other creatives have also uniquely paid tributes to the Queen. An artist paid his respects to the Queen with an incredible 70-square-foot mural drawn on the sand of a Cornish beach. Father-of-two Harry Maddox, 63, creates all kinds of land art - and his latest project was in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. Harry visited Tregirls Beach in Padstow on September 15 to create a 70ft x 70ft drawing on the sand. Taking four-and-a-half hours, it read '1926-2022 Elizabeth. Thank you Ma'am.'
Following the Queen's death, people across Wales also showed their respects. Her funeral saw 2000 people attend the event, including many Welsh people who were in the congregation. Paralympian Tanni Grey Thomson, leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price, leader of Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies and First Minister Mark Drakeford were present, including its youngest representative Andrew Miller, who at the age of 16 went to the funeral on behalf of the Welsh Youth Parliament. He said that it is "such a great honour to be representing not just the Senedd, but young people from around Wales".
You can go here to read more about the Queen’s extraordinary 70-year reign including her well-established links to Wales.
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