‘I have relinquished the administration of this government. God Save The Queen. Patten.’
Last Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten transfers sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997.
Nothing quite encapsulates the spluttering anticlimactic end of the British Empire as does this dreary, pitiful snap. No drama, no tension, just a timorous ceremony and this accompanying image for posterity.
Sometimes watershed moments of history produce underwhelming accounts. I hate goodbyes, too.
Wanderings and ... wonderings. 
I remember it so vividly with a tear on my cheek.