Mei Heron has been in Belfast for the visit of King Charles III following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth.
“I fear trouble ahead”, he said to me, and turned to face a Queen who had reigned over much trouble in Northern Ireland.
A mural set up to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee has become the centre place to mourn her death here in Belfast.
There I met several people who loved the Crown, but worried about the next few years.
My conversation with Chris, a 70-year-old father of three, really stuck with me. He knew we were from New Zealand - "people outside don't understand what it's been like in here," he said to me.
But he was kind enough to try to explain.
He looked around the neighbourhood and said, where we were, people would die for the Queen. Pointing in the distance, less than half a mile, he said people there would kill to not be under her rule.
He reflected on a time in his life where bombs went off on the street we were standing on, his friends were killed, and he saw horrific acts of violence.
He met with both loyalist and nationalist political and religious leaders, pledging to “seek the welfare of all”. (Source: 1News)
Turning to me, with tears in his eyes, he said: “I don't want my kids, and grandkids to see what I saw, but I fear trouble ahead.”
Queen Elizabeth prayed for peace, and many who adored her say she kept a lid on the simmering tensions.
King Charles has pledged to continue her work, but it's unclear what that looks like, or if he has the ability to do so.
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