EVEN the strongest anti-royalist can't help but feel some sympathy for the Queen who has lost her sister and mother in the space of seven weeks writes Lesley Richards of the Leigh Journal

The tragic double blow has not got her golden jubilee year off to the best of starts.

The Queen Mother was a grand, proud and determined lady who to the end refused to give to her weary body, still walking about in her white high heeled shoes,

Her death, sudden though the announcement was, came as no surprise, though some stupid people interviewed said they thought she would go on for ever.

Perhaps many more of us would live to be centenarians if we didn't have to struggle along juggling an inadequate old age pension, worrying about yobs and burglars or suffering neighbours from hell.

The Queen Mum had a privileged life, and though she will be sadly missed, she was after all nearly 102.

What are your feeling on the loss? Let me know.