Hail to the Queen, and Prince Charles Too!
This has been an interesting week in English history as Queen Elizabeth the second has become the second member in the nations long line of monarchs to achieve sixty years on the throne. Celebrations have gone on across both Great Britain and the entire empire that have included the lighting of torches to symbolize this rare, and, perhaps, once in a lifetime event. Elizabeth is eighty six years old and her mother lived to be one hundred and one, which might give this sprightly queen another fifteen years on the throne. If that were to be the case, Prince Charles would be eighty himself when his own coronation occurs. Long reigns are usually followed by a short reign or two and the possibility that Elizabeth might become the longest reigning monarch in English history, surpassing Queen Victoria’s sixty three years, has many in Great Britain contemplating the possibility that, after Elizabeth’s passage, that the monarchy might be abolished in this island nation that has supported it for so long and so proudly. One would not think that sort of thing could happen by the numbers of people who have come out to celebrate this event who have numbered in the millions.
The British have always been rugged and forthright people and Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, her consort, proved that to be true in fine fashion as they endured what is often typical British inclement weather Sunday on the Thames river which runs through both London and its rich history as they watched approximately one thousand craft of various types parade past them, ending with a barge with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra serenading them with some of the highpoints in British musical history. It was a little disquieting to note that Prince Phillip had to go to the hospital at ninety one with a bladder infection after both he and his wife had stood patiently for two hours watching this pageant go by. More than one commentator noted how lonely Elizabeth looked without Phillip as she stoically went through the rest of the festivities. We have been watching Elizabeth for many years now and her often displayed stoicism is in marled contrast to the campaigning nature of so many politicians both here in America and around the world that she has met in her now long reign. When Elizabeth smiles it is a special treat indeed. Comments were made that the queens outlook on life and service are in contrast to those who must go before the voters, something that she has never had to do. Several times throughout her life she has made the statement that her service will go on for her entire life, no matter how long that might be, putting to apparent rest the rumors that have her abdicating at some point so that her son might get more time on the British throne. Prince Charles has had a mixed bag of popularity and unpopularity across his sixty five years and his marriage to Princess Diana has been both a blessing and a curse to the monarchy through the years before she died in the tragic car crash in Paris several years after their divorce. Charles was supposed to have been somewhat distant from his new bride in the years after their marriage, and, rumors had long circulated that he was seeing Camellia, who is now his wife. One account had him coming into the royal living quarters after a tryst in the mud with Camilla in which some of the servants could not believe what he was going through to be with his one and only true love. The problems with the marriage between Charles and Diana brought the monarchy to one of its lowest points in modern history and fueled the thoughts that perhaps it was time to bring the whole thing to a halt. Queen Elizabeth did her best to get through a situation that was completely foreign to her and, at one time, made the statement that if the British people no longer wanted her and them that they would be happy to fade away from public view. There were those who were concerned about how the royals would survive but apparently the Queen is one of the richest women in the world with wealth into the multi billions and could easily live in the style that she and her family had become accustomed. As it stands now, however, there are open questions that with the tourist cash that the monarchy brings into England every year, whether it would be the best idea to banish them to the many palaces and homes that they own across the island nation. In point of fact, the monarchy and England are so intertwined that to separate them might be next to impossible considering the millenniums long relationship that the two have had.
People around the world have grown up, grown old and died with the idea that “the Queen” means Elizabeth and England and it is a testament really to the idea that monarchies can survive in an age of the rise of democracies. People in the United States think that we have the oldest democracy in the world but we all to easily forget that if it had not been for the intransigence of King George the third our own democracy might have been delayed or never come into being at all. Our revolution and our form of government means a great deal to Americans but we forget that Great Britain is so old that we were among one of many wars and rebellions that England put down or lost across its long, colorful and storied history. We have an old friend who was talking about a trip to London that he took in which he and a business acquaintance walked past war memorial after war memorial. When the acquaintance asked my friend what he thought of all of it he simply said in return: “it sure seems like that you folks have fought a lot of wars!”
For the male members of the English monarchy, service in the military has come as a natural thing across the decades and the centuries. Both heirs to the English throne have served in the armed forces along with so many others and it would not be right or proper if an English male monarch could not put on the clothing of the branch of service that they had devoted a portion of their lives to serving for their country. There was a time long ago when English kings led their forces into battle and so many remember that the Battle of Hastings in 1066 was determined in part by an ill timed arrow that took the life of King Harold, changing the course of English history for all time. It is also often forgotten that if the current queen’s uncle had not abdicated the throne to marry his true love Wallace Simpson, an American, this Elizabeth might be an obscure and overlooked part of the extended royal family, so, true love and its accompanying twists and turns are no stranger to these people of such royal blood.
For our part, we have long felt a kinship for Prince Charles as it seemed that we were always hearing of something that he was doing as a child and young adolescent not that much older than we were back in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Whether this was just a coincidence or clever public relations by the palace staff we will never know but, even through his marital trials, we could still feel close to him as we were undergoing similar things of our own. It may be the great saving grace of the English monarchy that they have so often been able to identify with both their own “subjects” and with people all around the world. The new group of Royal symbolized by William and Harry may, in their own way, reflect changes going on across the world. William lived with Kate for many years before their storybook marriage just last year and Harry remains single as he goes about his business of serving both his family and his nation as a warrior who has seen service in places like Afghanistan where there is always the possibility of coming home to family and friends in a box. The monarchy, like England herself, has seen its ups and its downs but they more than pay their keep, in this opinion anyway, by the fascination and the spotlight that they place on this island nation and its resolute people who may no longer rule the world or the waves, but still contribute so much to this large and diverse world of ours.
IOVHO,
Regards,
Joe
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.
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