God Save the Queen

Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN


Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926 and is known as Queen Elizabeth II of England to the world and “Lilibet” to her family.

I am in Canada as I write this column and Her Majesty has just visited this country. As I read the various newspapers I see her picture daily in a number of different colorful hats. I read that she brought fifty hats with her.

This seems to be her habit. They write that she tries to have hats designed to cover both the possible “weather” as well as the symbolism of whatever event she attends.

Three things are very predictable with reference to Her Majesty:

• she will have a striking hat or crown
atop her royal head

• she will have a pocket book swinging from her
arm

• she will faithfully attend to her duties every day of her life


Pollsters indicate that her subjects are rather lukewarm on the idea of monarchy. That said, they are very fond of the current monarch. Elizabeth is incredibly popular with her subjects and is met by large crowds wherever she goes.

Her Majesty is one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history. The fact that her mother lived beyond age 100 suggests that Queen Elizabeth may yet capture the title of longest reigning monarch. She has expressed no interest in abdicating in favor of her eldest son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Like her mother and father did, she has an enormous sense of duty.

Criticism of the Queen is rare in this day of a great willingness to attack people in authority. She is focused on the work of the monarchy and by all accounts attends to her duties efficiently and effectively each and every day. Not one iota of scandal has touched this monarch.

Like many mothers in her generation, she has been disappointed in the antics of her children. The Queen is undoubtedly concerned about the future of The House of Windsor.

We have not seen the seriousness of purpose, the dedication to duty, or the appreciation of royal birth in any of her offspring. It is unlikely any of her children could equal her popularity or dedication to the people of the United Kingdom.

I have had an opportunity to be in her presence once. My wife and I were the only Americans at The Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey one year as guests of the Dean of Westminster Abbey. This is a service to which all the countries in the British Empire send representatives and the entire royal family is in attendance.

When the trumpets sounded and the organ took up the thrilling “God Save the Queen”, the small statured Elizabeth marched down the long aisle, colorful crown astride her head and ever-present pocket book carried on her arm. No one would say she made a powerful presence, or exuded charm or regality. The vibes she sent out were ones of competence, seriousness of purpose, and love of country.

In 1947 Elizabeth married Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
They have a family of four children and eight grandchildren.

On a couple of occasions, my wife and I have met His Royal Highness, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

On one occasion we had tea with him at the home of the British Consul in New York City. There were six of us and I found him to be an interesting conversationalist and a friendly host. However, there was no familiarity in his bearing and I felt certain meeting with us was simply one more burden of his daily schedule.

On another occasion, my wife and I had dinner with Prince Philip in a private dining room at a club in New York. There was a large round table and about twenty guests. On this occasion, I found him to be pompous and overbearing.
More importantly, he seemed completely unappreciative of the efforts our host had extended to make it an enjoyable night for him.

We attended a picnic with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in upstate New York one spring and later a dinner with him at the New York Yacht Club. He seemed very much like his father.

Like you, I have only read about the other children: Anne, Charles and Edward.

So Elizabeth has a handsome but seemingly distant consort in Philip, and four children, each of whom has demonstrated some public bad behavior and in their own way tarnished the family name in ways that could only pain their dedicated mother.

Presidents, dictators and other heads of state come and go.

Fortunately for her subjects, Elizabeth continues.

As the world is roiled in politics, she stands out as a beacon of service, patriotism and class.

It is easy to see she truly cares for her subjects. She loves them and they love her.

The rest of us are living in times that permit us to be her contemporaries. We are seeing a reign like few others and her passing will be painful not just to her subjects.

I feel completely justified in stating that this Elizabeth has set the standard for “reigning” in her 58 years as Queen and that standard will not be met by any future British monarch nor any other person ascending the throne in any other land.

God Save the Queen.