Queen Elizabeth II
After 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. With the end of the longest reign in British history, comes the end of an era. She had become more than just a queen. In many ways, she had become the figurehead for Britain itself. She encapsulated many of the things that represent ‘Britishness’. She was was a stalwart believer in duty, responsibility and faith. She was guided by her sense of service and inheritance. Whatever you may think of her politically or the institution historically, no one can escape the influence and impact she had on Britain and the world.
Becoming queen at 25 years old is a daunting and overwhelming task. Especially for someone who believed that she might never actually ascend the throne. Her uncle, Edward was young, and should have had children of his own, thereby ending Elizabeth’s likelihood of ever seeing the crown atop her head. When Edward abdicated in 1936, his family was nearly torn apart. He had sparked a constitutional crisis, his heart set on marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson. The throne defaulted to his brother, later known as George VI.
Even the fact that Elizabeth was now the heir presumptive, did not mean that she would actually become queen. Her father was only 40 when he was given the crown, young enough to still have the possibility of producing a male heir. The male-preference primogeniture of the time meant that this newborn would become the automatic heir, despite being the youngest. The start of George’s reign was spent dealing with the aftermath of Edward’s abdication. His first act as king was to give Edward the title ‘Duke of Windsor’. George believed that with his abdication, his brother had also forfeited the right to bear royal titles. And so, in the letters patent that gave Edward the dukedom, with was stipulated that his wife and future children could not bear any royal styles.
As her parents took on the new responsibilities as King and Queen consort, Elizabeth was left at home, deemed too young to take part. They corresponded regularly, however, with the future Queen making the first royal transatlantic telephone call to talk to her parents in 1939.
The world turned upside down that same year, with the outbreak of the Second World War. As the Luftwaffe bombings of London began, there were calls for Elizabeth and Margaret to be evacuated to Canada. This was adamantly shut down by their mother, who remarked ‘The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave.’ Not only was this a statement of her authority and intent, it was also a powerful message to the British people and their new enemy. The King was going nowhere, nor was his family. In 1940, the future Queen Elizabeth II made her first radio broadcast, at age 14. She addressed children across the country who had been evacuated from the cities. She inspired the nation, saying: ‘We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.’
By 1945, Elizabeth had gone from behind the microphone and into uniform. She was appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and trained and worked as a driver and mechanic.
As the war came to a close, thousands of people filled the streets of London to celebrate. VE Day was huge, with dancing, cheering, flags and banners, celebrations lasting deep into the early morning. The excitement of victory even drew out the princesses, who snuck into the crowds, mingling incognito with the jubilant throngs.
Two years later, she was on her first overseas tour, to Southern Africa. It was this same year that she got engaged to Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, a man she had apparently loved since she was 13, and five years her senior. By the end of the year, they were married, with the queen requiring ration coupons to buy the material for her gown. Britain had not yet recovered from the devastation of the War, and the princess was to be no exception to the ration mandates. Another result of the war was that Philip’s German relatives, including three of his surviving sisters were prohibited from being invited to the wedding. So to was Elizabeth’s uncle, the former Edward VIII.
It wasn’t long before the newlyweds first child, Charles, arrived, on 14 November 1948, just six days before their one-year wedding anniversary. All the while, the King’s health was beginning to decline. And, by 1951, Elizabeth was standing in for him at public events. She toured Canada, and was en route to tour Australia and New Zealand until a pitstop in Kenya ended with the news the family had long been dreading. The King was dead. On 6 February 1952, at Sagana Lodge in the foothills of Mount Kenya, Phillip broke the news of her father’s death to Elizabeth. She was to be queen with immediate effect. The girl who should have never been queen, now thrust into the spotlight. The weight of the crown placed on her head. The responsibility of a kingdom and a commonwealth on her shoulders.
The second Elizabethan age had begun.
For the next seventy years and 214 days, Queen Elizabeth the second would reign. She would see fifteen prime ministers come and go, the first being Winston Churchill, who became a Member of Parliament during the reign of the Queen’s great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, in 1900, and the last being Liz Truss, who came by the premiership in September 2022. She visited more than 100 countries, travelling the equivalent of 42 times around the globe, and carrying out more than 21,000 engagements. She became Britain personified, Britishness manifested. It was practically impossible to imagine Britain without envisioning her.
In death, her legacy lives on. While she may no longer live in person, she lives in memory. Her name indelibly inked on the pages of British history.
This is not a requiem for a lost queen, nor is it intended to be an act of indulgent, hagiographical memorialisation. Instead, this is merely a reflection on a woman’s life, a life of lifelong duty, insurmountable responsibility and immeasurable authority. While a queen, she was still a mother, daughter, sister and wife. While all those, she was also a figurehead for a nation, she was loved, hated, respected and reviled. As with all leaders, there are her supporters and her detractors, her fans and her opposition. And yet, Queen Elizabeth II in death seems almost transcendent. Her memory and her legacy rises above the political and the practical. She, in memory and legacy is a monolith that will not be torn down for decades to come, if ever.
Above all, we should admire, if nothing else, the fact that she so utterly kept her word. She promised, in 1947, as she did a tour of South Africa, that she would live a life of service to her people and the Commonwealth. Whether all her decisions were right or not is up for debate, and rightly so. But, political views aside, she truly believed in this promise, and lived, worked and reigned for the British people, and tried to do all in their service.
