God Save The Queen
On 8th September 2022, her royal highness Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96.
The death of a monarch is always met mixed emotions, but regardless of whether you’re a royalist or for whatever reason do not like the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth was a mother, Grand Mother and great-grandmother. She was a human being.
Now I know that I could never write anything that would do any justice to detail the life of such an incredible lady, but I provide here a brief snippet in the hopes that it sparks further curiosity and goes someway to showing what we as a nation and indeed, the royal family, have lost.
Early Life of Elizabeth Windsor
When World War II broke out in 1939, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret mostly stayed out of London and spent there time safely in Windsor Castle whilst their parents stayed in defiance at Buckingham Palace. It was from Windsor Castle, at the age of 14, that Elizabeth sent out what would be the first of her famous radio broadcasts. The first broadcast was aimed at the children caught up in the war and the then Princes Elizabeth, along with her sister sent out a message of calm and reassurance with a very profound closing line of when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place.
In 1945, after years of debating with her parents, the queen joined the war efforts in a more hands on role. Princess Elizabeth trained as a mechanic and driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) with the rank of Second Subaltern. Whilst training, her majesty passed a military driving test, learned to read maps and repaired engines. At the time, the associated press gave her the nickname of “Princess Auto Mechanic”.
During VE day celebrations, Elizabeth and Margaret celebrated on the streets in secret with the rest of the country.
The Life of a Queen – The Later Years
We know from the accounts of those closest that Elizabeth had a wicked, mischievous and fantastic sense of humor growing up and this never seemed to change.
In my memory, there will always a place for when we all got to see her excitement for seeing cows in a field. A very normal reaction that I think we can all share. There’s also her involvement in the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony which I think everyone was surprised to see and then, in more recent years, her majesty was visited by Paddington bear for her platinum jubilee. She and Paddington had a marmalade sandwich each which the Queen pulled out of her own handbag. I can’t imagine any other monarch doing such a thing and it just shows the type of person she was.
From Princess To Queen
When Elizabeth’s Grandfather King George V died in 1936, it was Elizabeth’s uncle and the kings oldest son to take the throne and become King Edward VIII.
Due to the Kings affections for a American Divorcee Wallis Simpson, the King had a choice to make, the crown or heart. His heart won and he abdicated the crown.
In 1937, Elizabeth’s father became King George VI. This made Princess Elizabeth presumed heir apparent.
King George VI’s sudden death in 1952 marked the start of the 70 year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reign of a British monarch in history.
If you ever want proof that Queen Elizabeth was different to her predecessors, then here it is. Over the 1 thousand plus years of the British Monarchy, the people of the towns cities and nations are referred to as subjects. Essentially, you were there to serve king/queen and country. In addressing the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic, the queen signed off her address “Your Servant”. This is both sad and incredible at the same time. Sad that she feels she’s lived a live of servitude, but at the same time that she sees herself as serving us and never comes across as being “above” everyone.
She was truly an incredible lady and in essence, the nations grandmother as well as our Queen. She will be missed across the world and we have truly lost an incredible human being.
We will never and have never had a monarch like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and we only hope that her son, the now King Charles III has instilled in him the same morals, the same character and the same humanity that his mother had. God Save The King.
More about Queen Elizabeth
Here
