NASSAU, Bahamas — The Commonwealth will “not be the same” following Queen Elizabeth II’s death yesterday, according to Dame Marguerite Pindling, who met the queen on many occasions over the decades, The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday, September 9, in an article written by Jasper Ward.
“I cannot say it enough what a delightful lady she was,” Dame Marguerite told The Nassau Guardian.
“I don’t know how the Commonwealth will manage. It won’t be the same now that she’s left us.”
Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully” at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, according to Buckingham Palace. She was 96.
The queen was the longest reigning British monarch and reigned over the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, including The Bahamas, from 1952 until her death. She celebrated her platinum jubilee in February.
Dame Marguerite described yesterday as “a very sad day for all of us”.
Dame Marguerite met with the Queen both as the wife of The Bahamas’ first prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, and as governor general.
She said Queen Elizabeth had a way of putting “you at ease straight off”.
“I said earlier in the day that the Royal Family seem to have a love for our country,” Dame Marguerite said.
“When it was time for The Bahamas to perform or do whatever we had to do and we met her, she put you at ease straight off. ‘Are the waters still blue in The Bahamas?’ I said, ‘It’s blue green.’
“When she smiled, she cackled liked a little girl and, of course, I think all of that was to put you at ease. She will be missed because she was so well loved.”
Dame Marguerite said she was pleased to have grown up under the second Elizabethan era.
She said she learned “a lot” from the queen.
“It was always a pleasure to have met her,” she said.
Queen Elizabeth visited The Bahamas on five separate occasions. The first time was in 1966 and the last time was in 1994.
Dame Marguerite said the fact that she visited The Bahamas that many times was telling.
“If we didn’t have something to offer or if we didn’t have something that she liked or appreciated, I don’t think she would have wanted to visit us so often,” she said. See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/dame-marguerite-remembers-queen-elizabeth-ii/
