I didn’t set an alarm to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at 6 a.m. Eastern time. But when I woke up anyway, I quickly tuned in. 

What pomp and grandeur, what an outpouring of love and respect! “It’s been a solemn day, but not a gloomy one,” said the BBC commentator.  

As I write, the queen has left London for the last time and is on her way by hearse to Windsor Castle, where she will be laid to rest in the family crypt. Thousands of citizens have lined the way, throwing roses in her path.

“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Today, the queen passes into history.