Queen Elizabeth II: COMMENT - Final farewell to our wonderful Queen

This was a queue like no other that I had ever joined. No impatience. No idle chatter. No distracted staring at the indolent face of a mobile phone. We each waited our turn in the nave of Chichester Cathedral on Saturday before moving either to the left to sign the Royal Book of Condolence or to the right to light a candle.

In my naivety, I had not fully anticipated that people would add some heartfelt words as well as their signature. So when I reached the front of the line and sat down before a fresh sheet of white paper I felt strangely at a loss as to how to express the enormity of my respect for Her Majesty The Queen or to adequately describe the profound sense of loss. I suspect that, like many other people, I relied simply upon the words of Paddington Bear in that extraordinarily beautiful sequence recorded for the Platinum Jubilee. "Thank you. For everything."

On Sunday, at 11am I returned to the cathedral for the Sung Eucharist where the Bishop of Chichester the Rt Rev Dr Martin Warner articulated far more effectively than I had managed, the sheer scale of the Queen's service, her grace, her unfailing sense of duty, and above all else her sense of humour.

But it was not until after the Dismissal as we sang The National Anthem, that the news of the past three days became real and extraordinarily emotional. For my whole life in those two verses I had implored God to save 'our gracious Queen.'

An hour later, on the steps of County Hall, the historic tradition of the High Sheriff - Mr James Whitmore, accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant Lady Emma Barnard - reading the Proclamation was the final, tangible confirmation that we had left the Great Second Elizabethan age.

"The Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the Prince Charles Philip Arthur George," he announced - in the same style that past pre-television and internet generations would have first learnt of a new monarch.

Then three cheers and 'God save the King' brought this poignantly delivered announcement to its conclusion. The tectonic plates of history had shifted and resettled.

SussexWorld is a new entity but the weekly newspapers across Sussex from which it is born are nearly 200 years old in some cases. Many, like the County Times and the West Sussex Gazette, were founded during Queen Victoria's reign - indeed the Chichester Observer was created to mark the Golden Jubilee of that monarch nearly 140 years ago. Throughout that time, as publications of record, they have faithfully reported on a rapidly changing world while constantly reiterating their loyalty to Queen and King and country.

In this special edition this week of all of our newspapers we maintain that tradition. We celebrate wholeheartedly the life of the wonderful Queen Elizabeth, we mark our final farewell to her, and without reservation we welcome our new King. If you feel as we do, then do sign one of the many books of condolence - there is even one of this website - and pause with us on Monday as we give thanks, celebrate her life, and look to the future.

We have so much to be proud of in this county and this country. Let us hope that the grief of this week will bring people together - stronger and more united than ever before.

And as we remember and give thanks for the life and service of Queen Elizabeth II, we pledge our loyalty to King Charles III. God save the King.

[]Gary Shipton is the Director and Editor In Chief of SussexWorld and its Sussex newspapers and a Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex.