Dear friends,

42½ years ago on the day that we heard that John Lennon had been shot I went to visit a friend of mine who lived in the village. I was clasping my John Lennon records in one hand, as if the playing of one or more of them somehow bring the ex-Beatle back.

Talking to my mate an hour or so after I arrived, I asked speculatively whether the death of any other rockstar would have so many international ramifications, as well as such a tremendous emotional effect on us all. He answered with a non sequitur: “I’ll be terribly sad when the Queen dies“. And it was the first time in my life that I had even considered the fact that Elizabeth the Second was one day going to die.

And now she has, and we are entering a period of national mourning.

She was a constant in all our lives, and she began her reign seven years before I was born, and if you want the truth I always thought she would outlive me. On behalf of my colleagues at Gonzo Publishing and my colleagues at the Centre for Fortean Zoology I extend my condolences to her family. I have lost enough loved ones in the past couple of decades to know exactly what it feels like. The nation has lost a beloved matriarch, and personally I feel bereft in a way that I truly was not expecting to feel. The death of a 96-year-old lady, who has visibly been in declining health, is no surprise, but it has hit me like a punch to the stomach. An era is ended, but the death of any era means the birth of a new one, and this is the concept of hope and positive anticipation that we all need to take on board.

The Queen is dead,

God save the King.

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