Michael was performing when he saw the news.

It was on a guest's phone as they were talking to someone else - presumably in their party.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was dead. After seventy years on the throne, she'd finally died.

He couldn't wait to break the news to his fellow Tiki Room birds, and so he did between shows.

'The Queen of England is dead.'

'No, that's not right,' said Pierre. 'She is not dead.'

'I saw it on a guest's smartphone,' said Michael. 'And it wasn't a push notification - it was an actual story they were reading on CNN.'

'CNN?' asked Fritz. 'Why would they be reading CNN and not listening to us?'

'Because the Queen of England died!' Michael was irritated.

'Si, Michael is right,' said José. 'The Queen of England is indeed dead. I saw it on someone's phone too.'

Pierre opened his beak to say something, but closed it again with a *clack*.

'That is… strange,' said Fritz. He didn't know what to say. It wasn't like it was wholly unexpected news - after all, the Queen had been a frail and elderly woman for some time now. But he wasn't expecting it to happen… today.

'How does this affect us?' asked Pierre.

'It doesn't,' said Michael. 'I just thought everyone would like to know. It's quite big news, you know.'

The next group of guests piled in and the Tiki Room birds all shut up and took their places, José pretended to be asleep, then the Cast Member "woke him up" again. And the show repeated once more.

After another rousing chorus of Heigh-Ho - with altered Tiki Room lyrics of course, the four main parrots picked up where they'd left off.

'Michael. Are you happy?' asked José.

'What do you mean?' asked Michael.

'Well, you're Irish, aren't you?' said José

'I'm… indifferent,' said Michael with a slight nod.

'I don't have any opinion either,' said Pierre. 'For what it's worth.'

'Ja, me either,' said Fritz. 'The Queen was an old lady. Old ladies, they die.'

'Si. It isn't surprising. But how long have we been around?' asked José.

'Since 1971,' Michael replied.

'And what about our counterparts in Anaheim?' asked José. 'They've been around since 1963. Almost sixty years.'

'That is a long time,' said Pierre.

'Si. It is. And none of us have ever known a time when Queen Elizabeth wasn't Queen of England,' said José. 'That is why this news is significant.'

Another group of guests poured in, and another show was performed by the Tiki Room birds.

The parrots all turned back to each other.

'Queen Elizabeth became Queen in 1952. Disneyland opened in 1955,' said Fritz. 'Her being Queen is all any Disney animatronic or figure knows.'

'Now it's King Charles, oui?' said Fritz. 'The Third?'

'I would think so,' said Michael.

'Well,' said Pierre, 'that will take some getting used to.'

'At least none of us are British,' said José. 'It's still weird that the Queen is dead.'

So Queen Liz died today (September 8th). I don't have anything to say about her as a person, but it is certainly a historic event. And I guess I just wanted to capture that as a historian and former journalist.
I also started this series around the time of the "Platty Jubes", so that's something else too.
It's weird, I guess. I'm not grieving her loss in any way, but it feels odd to refer to her in the past tense. And that we have a King now.
Oh well. Life goes on.