“She did it with such dedication because she wanted to make her Father proud of her.” —Margaret Rhodes, Confident of Elizabeth
The Princess Elizabeth was born in the early morning hours April 21, 1926 at home. She would be third in line for the throne. Diarist Chips Channon remarked that the traditional royal gun salutes for the Yorks’ little girl had a “feeling that the child will be Queen of England and perhaps the last sovereign.”
Princess Elizabeth said of Buckingham Palace that “People need bicycles here” to get around because of its many rooms and size. When German tanks rolled into Poland, Elizabeth and sister Margaret’s whereabouts usually would be referred to as simply “somewhere in the country.” Their royal lessons would continue with their goverenesses.
The King would wear a uniform for the next six years and immersed himself in the minutiae of war. It was determined that the First War (World War I) Christmas would experience and maintain the old traditions. He quoted from a poem from Minnie Louise Haskins: “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’”
King George VI died February 6, 1952 and 300,000 queued to file past his coffin at Westminster Hall prior to his funeral at St George’s Chapel. Coronation plans culminated June 2, 1953 with an estimated 27 million watching in Britain on newly-bought television sets. The Queen was 25 years old.
Queen Elizabeth had exhibited a steady calm demeanor whether it was regarding constitutional reform, or a ban on hunting, or even the demise of the yacht Britannia. At the time of her Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary in February 1977), she said, “I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom” in reference to the debate of devolution.
The tragic death of Princess Diana in a Paris tunnel July 31, 1997, left the entire Royal family in shatters. Criticism in the British press was unfathomable, but the Queen did show her compassion and verve even bowing as the casket passed her. The day following her funeral and burial at Althorp, the Spencer family seat, the Royal Family returned to Balmoral.
Former American president George W. Bush has never forgotten that Tony Blair, England’s prime minister, to a plane into Washington, D.C. to sit next to Laura Bush when the president addressed Congress after the 9/11, 2001, atrocities. “It was just a great moment of solidarity and the Queen certainly had a major role in it,” the former president has said.
In 2016 the Queen turned 90 and is not one who likes a fuss over her birthday because as she has said “a birthday just happens. It is not representing any degree of achievement.” She still rode her favorite pony Emma. There was a street party for all 600 of the Queen’s patronages. She enjoyed a short walk about with the Duke. Family members held a private dinner as more than 1q,000 beacons were lighted across the country.
After her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing April 9, 2021, Queen Elizabeth showed little enthusiasm for her public duties. However, to her it was not a job. It is who she is. She had nailed the work/life balance brilliantly. After a year of mourning, she seemed to bounce back. As one senior advisor said, “She is determined to live in the present because she is animated by the electricity of the present. It is her attitude which has ripened gloriously in the later stages of her reign.
“God save our noble Queen.”
Queen Elizabeth passed this life after 70 years as queen at age 96, September 8, 2022.
P.S.A.: A recent biography, “Queen of Our Time”, written by Robert Hardman gives a balanced portrait of her reign. Its 600 pages is worth the read.