The Queen remembered

The Queen remembered

The Herald pays tribute to the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II.

Herald marked historic moments

As expected, the historic occasions of the death of King George VI and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II were featured in the Presbyterian Herald.

The March 1952 edition reported that the sorrow of the Church was expressed in two messages sent by PCI Moderator Dr Hugh McIlroy, one of which expressed sincere sympathy on the circumstances of the Queen’s accession to the throne. “We pray that Your Majesty, walking in your reverend father’s footsteps, may be richly blessed in your reign…”

The Queen’s coronation was marked in the July 1953 issue, with the editorial saying many are expressing the “wistful hope that we might be on the verge of another Elizabethan age…”

The same issue featured the poem, ‘A prayer for Coronation Day’, which said, “Today our youthful Queen is set apart… And as with joy we crown her in our heart/ In love divine let her be crowned by Thee…”

In the June edition of 2002, the Herald reported that Dr Alastair Dunlop had the privilege of preaching in the presence of the Queen during a service to celebrate her Golden Jubilee in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

At the service, Dr Dunlop, who was PCI Moderator at the time, said that in a society which had changed enormously in 50 years, the Queen had displayed “an unwavering, consistent devotion to duty, unstinting service to the nation and the Commonwealth, and utter faithfulness to vows made at her coronation.

“We are particularly grateful today, in this context of worship, for her example of steady, Christian faith,” he added.

Impressed by Her Majesty’s knowledge of Northern Ireland

Photo by Cecil Graham 1951

The first engagement I had with HM The Queen was on 12 July 1951. She was then the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, when she officially opened a youth centre at Chigwell, Essex.

At the opening ceremony the Rt Hon Winston Churchill, as the local constituency MP, gave a speech following which the royal visitor carried out an inspection of the centre and then had informal chats with representatives of the various national groups. What a unique experience for a 19-year-old from Belfast who I was greatly impressed on his first visit to London had the by the way in which this opportunity to see quite small figure could and hear our future Queen and her first fill the entire place with her regal personality. Prime Minister in the flesh! Within two years I was back in London for the Coronation Day celebrations. I was on first aid duty with the St John Ambulance Brigade and our aid post was at Oxford Circus. We took up our position at 4.30am and while it was about 5pm before the golden coach conveying the newly crowned Queen and her Consort passed our post, my memories of that day are still very vivid.

NI Jubilee Youth Festival 1977

Then in 1977, on the occasion of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, I was a member of the team that organised the Northern Ireland Jubilee Youth Festival, held at Coleraine on 13 August. Due to the pressures arising from the Troubles, it was only on 28 June – two days before the end of school term – that the decision was taken to proceed with the royal visit. There followed a hectic period of planning to finalise the programme. It turned out to be successful and a few days following the event a letter was received from Buckingham Palace stating how much the Queen had enjoyed the visit.

Cecil recieves the OBE 1995

In 1995, at a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace, HM The Queen invested me as an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) and I still recall her words of encouragement and congratulation. In November 1996 I was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO). In April 2015 I attended a service of the Order held in St George’s Chapel following which a reception was held in the state apartments at Windsor Castle. At this Her Majesty circulated around the groups and when she spoke to the group I was in, I was again encouraged and impressed by her sincerity and knowledge of ‘all things Northern Ireland’.

Cecil Graham, Elder in Windsor Presbyterian Church and former clerk of South Belfast Presbytery