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Roberto Rocha was huddled with three others around a computer screen, as one of the friends prepared to become a Canadian citizen.
The pandemic had derailed the pomp of an in-person swearing-in ceremony, leaving 140 excited, polite faces to meet instead on a Zoom screen.
“It was such an important moment for him and he wanted people dear to him to be present there. We’re in his living room, staring at a computer,” Rocha, a journalist at the Investigative Journalism Foundation. “But it still meant a lot for us to be there with him.”
As news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death rippled around the world on Thursday, Rocha and his friends unexpectedly witnessed the efficient protocol that goes into effect in the aftermath of such a moment.
The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 1.30pm EST (6.30 GMT). But 20 minutes in, Rocha’s friend and 140 others were still waiting patiently.
Rocha was scrolling through Twitter when he saw the news: moments before, Buckingham Palace had announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
