‘She kept on to the last’: Royal superfan Jean Topping shares her sadness at the Queen’s death

A royal enthusiast from Greater Manchester has spoken of her feelings about hearing news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Jean Topping, from Wigan, has a huge collection of royal memorabilia including lots of mugs from across the Queen’s 70-year reign.

She remembered celebrating the Queen’s coronation in 1953 as a teenager and threw a party earlier this year to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

She shared her thoughts on hearing the news of the monarch’s death which marked the end of an era.

What did Jean say about the news of the Queen’s death?

Jean, who lives in the Orrell area of Wigan, shared her shock and grief at hearing that Britain’s longest-serving monarch had died on Thursday (8 September).

Jean, 88, said: “I had the news on all day. I was really upset about it, it was awful, heartbreaking. I was holding my breath when I heard about it.

“She was a good queen. Everybody liked her. She kept on to the last. I watched on the telly when she was with the new prime minister and I thought how well she had done.

“When I was in the local paper for the Platinum Jubilee my daughter had it printed and it was on the dining room door. I only took it off yesterday, I don’t know what made me do that.”

Jean, who has five children, 10 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, spoke of how she identified with the Queen as a mother and a grandmother.

She said: “She’s got children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren like I have. She was a very nice lady. She was very happy with Prince Philip, she met him, got married and they had a nice family.

“I remember seeing her on the telly with her family at the seaside, with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, like an ordinary mother would do. I think she was a very good mother, looked after her children and enjoyed herself with them.

“She had a title but she was a proper mother to them.

“They had Christmas parties just like we do. All my family come up after dinner and we have a buffet and play games. When we had lockdown and nobody was able to come down, they just came to the front gate and said hello, it was heartbreaking. I knew how the Queen must have felt.”

Jean’s love of the Royal Family

Having lived through the Queen’s entire 70-year reign, Jean remembers celebrating all the key moments of her time on the throne with her family.

She remembered marking her becoming queen by cutting up red,white the blue paper and decorating all the windows with it. She also talked about having a photo of a party held to mark the coronation in 1953 with children enjoying bottles of pop and food such as jam sandwiches and sausage rolls being served.

Jean’s family also held a garden party to mark the wedding of Charles and Diana and earlier this year celebrated the Platinum Jubilee with a patriotic party which included donning Union Jack T-shirts and plenty of flag bunting.

She has also amassed a huge collection of royal merchandise, including an array of mugs featuring the family.