For me, last week was quite a week of celebration. It wasn’t a personal celebration, but a global recognition of Elizabeth, the reigning queen of Britain and the Commonwealth. Can you imagine that it is seventy years of commitment to a life of service that began at a very young age when her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon., as well as Head of the Commonwealth.
To try and write any facts to introduce her dedication, I have turned to Wikipedia for the following sentences... "Significant events have included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953, and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state, the oldest living and longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state."
I was twelve years old when we learned that she was our queen in Canada. Her photo was in our classroom, and we sang 'God Save The Queen' at school and at any public events that we may attend. I still have a scrapbook that I made, filled with photo clippings from the newspaper and colored postcards, of her wedding and coronation. I have hard-covered books (even coffee table books) with photos and text of her young life and her wedding to Prince Phillip.
She has visited our city five times, attended the Calgary Stampede and Rodeo, and including a short trip to Banff and Lake Louise in the mountains. She met with a crowd of school children at the Jubilee Auditorium on one trip. I remember the thrill of being in the crowd of 2,500 school children, waving our Canadian flags and singing ‘God Save The Queen’. As one newspaper reporter wrote, “They sang from their hearts, for this was the first time perhaps, they had ever really known the meaning of ‘God Save The Queen’.
During the celebrations of her Diamond Jubilee, there were many references to her deep sense of religious and civic duty, and that her Coronation Oath has remained steadfast in her life. I’ve listened to many, if not most, of the broadcast of her annual Christmas message to the Commonwealth. , when she includes statements of her personal faith, as in this sample… “To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal account-ability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.”
She is known for her smile, her sense of humor, her unending love for Phillip who was her husband for 73 years, her love of their family (in spite of unpleasant circumstances), and her royal commitment. I’m not sure I should be called a ‘royalist’, but I did admire and follow the public news of her and her family during my lifetime… and have boxes of scrapbooks, books, and photographs that I still don’t want to throw out.
Tags: Photos Queen News Collection
