Nicky Rennie: Queen Elizabeth II one of a kind

Queen Elizabeth II represented values such as hard work, loyalty and service, but especially consistency, writes Nicky Rennie. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION
Well, Friday a week ago was one of those defining moments when you remember where you were when you heard the news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

I was up in Auckland at a conference and turned on the TVNZ Breakfast programme at 6am to hear the news. Interestingly enough, my co-workers and I had been having a discussion about her the day prior and I'd said, "I don't think the Queen is going to last much longer". I'm not quite sure why I thought this (her being 96 could have had something to do with it) because, up until that point when I said that, there just seemed to be an unwritten rule that she would go on until she was at least 100 and could give herself a telegram.

I still found it sad, mostly because she represented values such as hard work, loyalty and service. But mostly she represented consistency. She was Queen for the whole of my life. I just found it amazing that she was meeting the new prime minister one day and then she was just – gone.

Imagine working right until your dying day. I think she was mightily ripped off because most people can hang up their tool belt and retire at 65 and, while there will be some that say what she did hardly required that much effort and she led a life of luxury, there were elements of her role that would have been damned hard.

Could you imagine the Herculean effort it must have taken not to bop Andrew over the head with her handbag when yet another scandal erupted? A massive effort I'd say.

Then there is the Meghan situation. I guess the one thing her passing demonstrates is the gaping chasm between behaving with class and behaving like Meghan. Kate and William get the big tick from me, Harry and Meghan must try harder.

Living in the royal family must be like living in a goldfish bowl and I don't for a minute think that would be easy, but would you just stop your whining? I wonder if Harry ever gets sick of her bleating on about "poor me". I guess the thing about this is he's made his bed and now he has to lie in it, literally.

The conversations the Queen may have had with her husband Philip, where she could share her frustrations about family foibles, could now no longer happen and that must have been something else that was awful to have to deal with, yet still she carried on.

On the day of her passing, one presenter at the conference I was at said she felt very sad because "the Queen reminded me of my nana". However, the sadness I felt at her passing was nothing compared with the grief I felt when Diana died. That was horrible and I remember cooking dinner or vacuuming and randomly bursting into tears. That felt like very real grief because it was such a tragedy and I adored her. That image of her wee men walking behind her coffin and "Mummy" on the flowers broke my heart. Once again, the tears flowed. I felt like I'd lost a member of my family. I wasn't a mother then but felt like one when I saw those boys.

Queen Elizabeth II will have been briefed about how this process would transpire after she died, which in and of itself must have been an odd thing to have to deal with. People wondered if Charles would take on the role of king or simply pass it on to William, but his mother's sense of service has clearly rubbed off. To be fair, he has had to wait a jolly long time to be able to start this new role but beginning something new at 73 makes me feel tired at the very thought of it, and I'm only 51.

Whilst I do feel sad that we won't see Queen Elizabeth II and experience her dry wit ever again, my overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your service. You were one of a kind.