Requiescat in Pace

There are other much more capable than I to reflect on the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II, but please accept my humble attempt to honor one who represented what is good in the world.

To begin I must say that I do not understand the Monarchy. Or, should I say I understand it, but I don't understand it. I do not see how one family can be considered to be so superior to every other that the destiny of a country is put in that family's hands. I say that about the Windsors. I say that about the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Clintons, the Obamas and -- yes -- the Trumps.

I rather doubt the Monarchy would have survived Edward VIII. Edward represented the selfishness that is now on full display in Harry and Megan. There was enough opposition to the Monarchy even back then that if the UK under Edward had been on the winning side in World War II -- which is doubtful -- people would have been so tired of the status quo that they would have clamored for a new social structure. As it is, there are not many things that can compare to the Second World War as an impetus for British social change.

As it turns out Edward was not the Monarch during such a pivotal time in his country's history. He abdicated in 1936, making his younger brother, the stuttering second son Albert -- otherwise knows as George VI -- the King.

George was never expected to be King -- but he became King anyway. He stepped up to the position before one of the most perilous times in British history. He stepped up and became the leader that a war-time country needed. Right behind him was his daughter, Elizabeth.

Early in the war, at the age of 14, the young Elizabeth was called upon to speak to British children who had been sent abroad to escape the horrors of war.

 

Elizabeth did not hide behind her title during the war. She was a truck driver and a mechanic. When Germany surrendered in 1945, Elizabeth did not want to remain in her royal conclave. Elizabeth sneaked out to be among the people.

In 1947, Elizabeth celebrated her twenty-first birthday. On that day, she made a vow to the British Commonwealth.

 

 

The vow that Elizabeth made seventy-five years ago was a vow that she took seriously and lived up to every day of her life. Elizabeth became Queen when her father died at age 56 in 1952. If there ever was a Monarch who exemplified what a Monarch should be, it was Elizabeth. She stood by her people. She was a strong and compassionate leader as the world stumbled into the future.

The United Kingdom, in fact the world, owes a debt of gratitude to the Queen who was a guiding light for seventy years.

I do not understand the Monarchy. However, I do honor Queen Elizabeth II. Her passing is another step into a future that hopefully will find another as inspirational as she.

May she rest in peace.