Queen Elizabeth II

In which I reflect on the death of the Queen...


Queen Elizabeth II died this week. In principle, I would say that I am not in favour of a monarchy. It's archaic, a waste of taxpayer's money and tied in with centuries of bloodshed. I've never had much of a strong feeling about this though and I think that's mainly because the Queen was just so fantastic at her job. 

It says a lot that just days before she died Her Majesty met new Prime Minister Liz Truss. Truss was, just, the fifteenth Prime Minister of the Queen's reign- she started with Churchill, Eden and Macmillan and ended with May, Johnson and Truss; it's difficult not to think that the standard of PM has declined significantly during her reign. The point is though the Queen was so dedicated to her role even in her later life when I suspect most people would have grown tired of saying "and what do you do?" and being part of the same ceremonies year after year.

The moment where I really thought "my goodness the Queen is good" was in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Her Majesty gave a speech that was far better and more inspiring than any member of the government managed to splutter out. "I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any." That's when a monarch comes into their own, when something needs to be said that shouldn't be tied up in politics.

The Queen was so good at this sort of thing. Throughout her reign she's sent messages of condolences whenever anything terrible happened anywhere in the Commonwealth and when she was able to would visit as soon after as possible. On the flip side she also celebrated great accomplishments from Edmund Hilary climbing Mount Everest to the Lioness winning the World Cup. By my calculations she made just shy of five hundred people (496) knights and dames during her reign. 

I think she showed some great personal qualities outside of her job too. The love she showed for Prince Philip was beautiful and the pair were married for seventy four years. I can think of few people who sustained a marriage for that long, let alone doing so in the public eye and clearly still being just as in love at the end as at the beginning, if not more so. 

For me, the Queen has always been an old lady and has had a grandmotherly feel about her. I found myself thinking of my own grandmother's death when reflecting on the Queen. It remains of great sadness to me that I never got to know my grandmother as an adult. It always felt to me like the Queen and my Nan were actually quite similar in their personalities, full of life and humour but committed to what they did. 

Perhaps the most odd thing about the Queen's death is that she isn't there anymore. You have to be a pensioner to remember the previous monarch. Due to the length of her reign the UK and the world has changed to much but as technology becomes ever more prevalent, a succession of ever more useless governments rule and the climate becomes increasingly fragile, the Queen was always there. 

The mourning that people feel for her is multi-faceted- we mourn the monarch and many will have memories of meeting or seeing her, all of which by definition would have been special days. We mourn the woman whose life and family have been constantly reported on. We also mourn the loss of the permanent fixture, the changes we've personally faced in the time we've known the Queen as monarch and our own personal losses we've faced upon the way. 

Rest in Peace Your Majesty and thank you for all your service. I hope that those that follow will continue to act in the way they have been shown.

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