As we all know, Elizabeth II, Queen of England died on the 8th of September, 2022and was buried on the 19th of September, 2022. A lot has been said about her life, in fact, wars have been fought about what side of posterity she stood on and how she will be remembered as a monarch. Like every leader, she had her faults and whether we like it or not, she will be judged by the actions or inactions of her country and by its policies and stance in the comity of nations. I leave her legacy as a monarch to the politicians and historians and choose to focus on Elizabeth the daughter, the sister, the wife, the mother, the human being who by a strange twist of events was thrust into the limelight through no fault of hers to become Queen.
I am sure that before she was 10, she never would have thought that she would one day sit at the helm of affairs of the United Kingdom as her father was not in line to the throne. When he became king after the abdication of the throne by his elder brother, who fell in love with a divorcée, it was inevitable that Elizabeth would one day mount the throne and I am sure that she never expected that she would be queen at the tender age of 25. By the way, I find it most ironic that whilst her uncle had to abdicate because he loved a divorcee, her son is king, despite the fact that he is divorced and is married to a divorcee. Apparently, her uncle was king at the wrong time in history or it could be, that the oracle did not favor him.
Elizabeth’s person and character is seen and reflects through all the many hats she wore and the roles she played. She was able to be in public what she was in private as a daughter, mother and wife. I think that the attribute I and millions of people admire most in her was her high and strong sense of duty and service. Duty came first before everything, she knew what was expected of her and did not shrink her duties no matter the situation Duty came first often at a high price of inconvenience and self, as seen in her attending to the newly sworn in Prime Minister two days before she died even though she was quite frail and in a weak state.
Duty was closely followed by service and commitment. If there is anything royalists and non – royalists agree on, it is the fact that Elizabeth served her country. I believe that to serve adequately and diligently one must have a high sense of responsibility defined by Miriam Webster Dictionary as “the ability to follow through on commitments, answer for one’s own actions, being reliable and trustworthy”. Duty, service and commitment are declining values in today’s world. People are no longer willing to serve or commit to either principles, people or relationships. They are no longer willing to take control of their lives and own their choices and decision and are quick to lay the blame of almost everything going on in their lives on others.
Commitment, duty and service though greatly derided and ridiculed in today’s world, are traits that are to be admired when seen in others. They will always yield a great response in the hearts of those to whom it is directed as seen in the outpouring of emotions and the decision by many to attend the Queen’s funeral rites and service at great personal cost and inconvenience.
Elizabeth was devoted to her husband, family and the causes that were dear to her heart. Devotion is defined as an act of giving of effort or time to something, it stresses zeal and service amounting to self dedication.To be devoted to me, means to stay true to your decisions and choices. Alas, devotion is a very scarce commodity in today’s world. People, are fickle with their emotions and promises and it is rather uncommon for people to stay true to individuals, positions and principles. It’s easier to move with the trends especially when the things we have promised to stay true to are contrary to the choice of the majority. Devotion is truly a remarkable trait, it’s what makes dogs “man’s best friend”. The ability to stand with someone through thick and thin is admirable and Elizabeth displayed that especially with her children and grandchildren. She displayed it when she stood by her son Andrew who had brought disgrace both to himself and her family. Though she punished him by stripping him of his titles and official privileges as a working royal, she embraced him as a son when she made sure he was her escort to the memorial service for his father Prince Phillip, his first public appearance after settling with his accuser despite objections by both the then Prince Charles and Williams and dismay from the general public. She displayed it when she wished Harry well after he chose to leave the family as a working member and displayed it yet again and again in her marriage to her husband who was her closest companion.
She had fortitude, that inner strength that enables one to withstand storms with a smile on their face. It enabled her to perform her duties in the face of anger, backtalk, whiplash untruths and accusations by a judgmental public without any public display of negative emotions. She rarely put her own side of the story in the public, choosing rather to separate her public life from her private life. Fortitude is needed much in today’s world where we can’t seem to face pressure without breaking down, where we allow the storms in our private lives to berth and destroy the ships or boats anchored in the harbor of the public, where we talk about things that no one has the right to know about. This is not to say that we shouldn’t talk to people about our problems, we must and should express our emotions and have people we talk to but we must always be watchful that we do not allow what is going on in us to spill over to others in ways that will damage our relationships with them.
She was prepared and detailed as we can see by the amount of thought that went into her activities, her public appearances and even her funeral. As an observer was said to have remarked “nothing happens by chance with the Queen”, everything is planned to a T and it speaks to us of the need to prepare for eventualities and not wish them away or thrust those burdens on the shoulders of those coming after us . If there is anything I took away from her funeral rites it was to plan for what I want and not leave things to chance believing that my children will know what I want done.
She was innovative and moved with the times. Elizabeth was born in the 20s and her upbringing was quite conservative but she was able to sense the direction the world was going in and move with it, she was forward looking and could understand that her world had changed from what it was. She opened the palace up for sightseeing, believing that the people had a right to know what went on behind the walls of the monarchy they funded, she took part in the opening ceremony of the Olympics in a rather unconventional manner which endeared the crowd to her. She was able to read correctly the mood of the nation and respond adequately as seen in her speech after the death of Diana princess of Wales in response to calls for her to address the nation. Also her agreeing to and insistence that Camilla be made and known as Queen Consort even though she refused her sister’s marriage to a divorcee is proof of her willingness to flow with the times.The questions we must ask ourselves is whether we will remain tied to and steadfastly follow traditions that do more harm than good or innovate to meet the demands of an ever changing world.
She connected with all, no matter their age, social status, achievements, race, in ways that made them feel special. Stories abound of many peoples recollection of meeting her and what was common to all of them was her ability to connect with people. Her ability to recollect what they did, the purpose for which they were in her presence, her ability to make people feel at home and that they mattered when with her, her ability to celebrate people and to remember their special events and memories. Elizabeth was a true embodiment of the saying that people will not remember what you say but how you made them feel. The lessons to be learnt are to ask ourselves how people feel about interacting with us. Do they see it as a hideous task to be carried out hurriedly? Do they leave thinking that we were just tolerating them or that we were really interested in them? Do they leave feeling special, inspired and encouraged or do they leave feeling worse off.
Like Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury said at her funeral, leaders that serve will be remembered long after their death. Elizabeth the second was remarkable in her service and has written her place in the sands of times, we may not rule a nation nor a people but we will leave a legacy and the most important legacy will be who we were as human beings.
Let’s make our lives count by the people we become.