Thibaud Hue edited by Wassila Belhacine
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07:52, September 19, 2022
She’s probably the queen’s biggest fan. Anita is well known across the Channel for having crammed items bearing the likeness of the Queen into her home for over 40 years. Its collection of objects is one of the largest in the world. This woman has unlimited admiration for Elizabeth II. On this day of the queen’s funeral, Europe 1 went to meet her.
1,277 objects
Mugs, umbrellas, newspapers, plates, Anita reviews her impressive collection of objects bearing the image of the queen. She owns 1,277 objects with the effigy of the queen, a record, and some are unusual to say the least. “There’s this garden gnome, he’s funny, he’s a caricature of the queen, and I’m sure it wouldn’t have bothered him. Well, not too much!”, She explains at the microphone. Europe 1.
Passionate about the royal family since childhood, the sexagenarian with curly gray hair has transformed a room in her house into a museum for a few private visits. She has become a keepsake of the Queen: “More and more people from all over the world are sending me their little collection from all over the world”
“She was also a mother to me, a grandmother”
But for ten days, Anita has not taken off her black uniform on which hangs a silver clip with the initials of Elizabeth II: “I have never been in mourning before in my life. I have never worn black clothes for the death of my mother, nor of my father. In fact, she was my role model. And I had not realized it until this week, she was also a mother for me, a grandmother .”
Eyes shining, she glances at one of her latest finds. A mug with the queen’s face and an inscription: 1952-2022. The funeral will be very painful for Anita: “We have a nursery rhyme here that says: ‘little cat, little kitty, where did you go?’ Well, I was in London to see the queen. It’s a last trip…”, concludes Anita.