HM The Queen Obituary

HM The Queen

1926 - 2022

The end of an era. That feeling has resonated with millions of people across the world upon hearing the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Having reigned for seventy years, the Queen was a constant throughout the lives of so many people. A significant number of those have never known a monarch other than Elizabeth II. Losing a constant in life always has a deep impact on people, but the Queen was so much more than that. Dedicating almost her entire adult life to duty and service, devoted to the people she served. It is that devotion she will be remembered for. It is that love of her people that the entire world will miss about the Queen.

Unlike many other monarchs, Elizabeth II was not always supposed to have ended up as Queen. She was born on 21 April 1926, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father was the second son of King George V, making Elizabeth third in the line of succession behind her father and her uncle, Edward, Prince of Wales. While there was public interest in the birth, there was no expectation that Elizabeth would ever become Queen. Certainly at the time, it was expected that The Prince of Wales would marry and have children of his own, pushing Elizabeth back in the line of succession. Therefore, Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret, born in 1930, had a nice, quiet home life, educated at home under the supervision of their mother, Elizabeth, and their governess, Marion Crawford. The young Princess Elizabeth was described as a lover of horses and dogs, as well as demonstrating orderliness and an attitude of responsibility, traits that would remain with her through the duration of her life, part of the reason she was a monarch so universally admired.

Her life changed in 1936. King George V died and thus her uncle succeeded him as King Edward VIII. However, a constitutional crisis developed when the King made clear he wished to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite. For political, religious and social reasons, the King’s intention to marry Simpson was met with widespread opposition from both the Government and the Church of England. Forced to choose between the monarchy and Wallis Simpson, the King chose Simpson, resulting in him abdicating the throne, meaning Elizabeth’s father acceded to the throne, becoming King George VI. With her father now King, Princess Elizabeth was the heir to the throne. This new destiny for her led to a much more active public life, with the young Princess accompanying her parents on many duties and visits, giving her a look into the life that awaited her, something the King was rather eager to make sure of. It was on one of these visits in 1939 that had a big impact on the young Princess’ life. When the King and Queen made a visit to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth where Elizabeth and Margaret were escorted by a young cadet there, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The young Elizabeth quickly fell in love with him, and by 1944, the two had begun exchanging letters. 1939 was also the year Britain entered the Second World War. It was recommended that the young Princesses should be evacuated to Canada, however the proposal was rejected by their mother. Thus they remained at Windsor Castle for the vast duration of the war. In 1940, Princess Elizabeth got another big taste of the life that awaited her, when she made her first radio broadcast to the nation via the BBC’s Children’s Hour, at the age of fourteen. In the broadcast, she stated “We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well”, the nation’s first glimpse of the show of strength the Queen was, and the strength she projected onto the nation.

Princess Elizabeth was also sure to do her part in the war effort. She

trained as a driver and mechanic with the Auxiliary Territorial Service in February 1945. A few months later, Germany was defeated and on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito among the crowds in London, celebrating the end of the war.

With the war over, Elizabeth was ready for the next big step of her life, marriage. Her relationship with Philip had blossomed into a romance, and on 9 July 1947, their engagement was announced. Despite this, their journey to marriage was not smooth. The King had initial reservations of losing the daughter he was so devoted to, and Philip faced judgement from the establishment, in regards to his foreign origin as well as his having sisters who had married German nobles who had links to the Nazis. Regardless of these judgements, the love between Elizabeth and Philip was to prevail and the wedding was to go ahead.

Shortly before the wedding, Philip converted to Anglicanism and renounced his Greek and Danish titles. Adopting the surname of his mother’s British family, he became Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, and was created Duke of Edinburgh the morning of the wedding. In post-war Britain, rationing was still in place and thus Elizabeth required ration coupons for her wedding dress. In addition, it was not appropriate for Philip’s German relatives, including his sisters to be invited.

Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage was a happy one, and on 14 November 1948, Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, Prince Charles, followed by Princess Anne on 15 August 1950. Between 1949 and 1951, as a serving officer in the Royal Navy, Philip was often stationed in Malta, where the family could enjoy a somewhat normal life at the rented home of Philip’s uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the final Viceroy of India.

As 1951 progressed, the King’s health began to decline due to numerous lung issues, leading Elizabeth to frequently stand in for him at public events. When his health improved to a degree in January 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set off on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, with a stay in Kenya. The King went to the airport to see them off, against medical advice. This was the last time Elizabeth saw her father.

The King died on 6 February 1952, while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. It was Philip who broke the news to Elizabeth that she was now Queen. As per tradition, she was proclaimed Queen across all the realms and hastily returned to the United Kingdom, moving into Buckingham Palace.

One of the Queen’s greatest legacies is by far her extensive work to keep the Royal Family relevant and moving with the times. This is apparent from the very beginning, when she allowed her coronation to be televised. The Queen’s continuing work of modernising the Royal Family was not just a result of choice, but of necessity. Throughout her reign, the Royal Family faced criticism for being seen as stuck in the past, especially as the 1960s began, bringing vast cultural changes and the rise of popular music acts such as The Beatles. Perhaps the most notable criticism of the Royal Family in this time came from Lord Altrincham, who claimed her court was “too upperclass” among others.

In response to criticisms of the Royal Family, the Queen made another big step into modernising the Royal Family, when she allowed documentary cameras to film the entire family at home, to present them in a more approachable light. The documentary, titled Royal Family, showed the Queen and her family performing ordinary activities, such as barbecuing, showing a side to the Royal Family that had never been seen before. While the documentary yielded mixed reviews, it undoubtedly presented the Royal Family in a new light.

During her seventy year reign, the Queen had fifteen Prime Ministers serve the United Kingdom, starting with Winston Churchill and ending with Liz Truss. Among them she saw Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. While always remaining non-political, the Queen and Thatcher were said to have had some awkward moments, reportedly finding Thatcher’s confrontational style and attitude “puzzling”. Nevertheless, the Queen never voiced criticism of any of her Governments, and always provided them her full support.

The 1990s were a particularly difficult time for the Queen. All in one year, the marriages of Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew fell apart, as well as Windsor Castle catching fire, leading to the Queen to dub the year her ‘annus horribilis’. Further problems for the Queen emerged in 1997, with the sudden death of Prince Charles’ ex-wife Diana, Princess of Wales in a car accident in France. Following the divorce, Diana had remained a largely popular public figure and the Royal Family’s choice to mourn in private attracted criticism. In addition, republican sentiment was at an all time high, however, the Queen’s personal popularity shone through and after publicly paying tribute to Diana in a televised address, support for the monarchy remained stable.

Another key area of Her Majesty’s long reign was her many visits to foreign nations, where she met with many figures and world leaders, including fourteen US Presidents and five Popes. Perhaps her most notable state visit was to the Republic of Ireland in 2011. The relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the British monarchy was rather tense throughout the majority of the Queen’s reign with the Troubles being a key source of Irish republicanism and Northern Irish independence. Therefore, the Queen simply visiting the Republic of Ireland was a big move towards Anglo-Irish relations. The biggest takeaway of that visit however, was likely her meeting and handshake with then Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who had formerly been a member of the Irish Republican Army, a group which had attacked many areas in Britain and claimed many British lives, including that of the Queen’s much loved Lord Mountbatten, who was assassinated in 1979 by a bomb planted on his fishing boat. Therefore, the Queen’s meeting with McGuinness was a sign of forgiveness and reconciliation, perhaps one which truly showed her heart.

Just a small sample of major events of the Queen’s life and reign which demonstrate what kind of monarch and person she was. Regardless of views on the monarchy, it is abundantly clear that Her Majesty The Queen was devoted to her country. She loved it and her people. From the moment she acceded to the throne to the moment she died, Queen Elizabeth was a champion of the strength, love and character of Britain and its people. For many, The Queen was the only monarch they ever knew. For the people she served, she was the greatest monarch we’ll ever know.

Words: Alijan Kirk Photo credit:Alessia Pierdomenico / Shutterstock.com

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