It’s almost unbelievable today that we only saw Queen Elizabeth II two and half days ago.
Two days before she passed away, she was working. She was greeting the UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss in her tartan skirt and light blue cardy in front of the fire at Balmoral.
Clearly, she was frail. She had her cane and for the first time in her reign, she didn’t’ go to London to meet the new PM; the new PM had to come to her in Scotland.
We all knew she was having a tough time.
But I don’t think any of us would’ve realized she would be gone so soon after that, because who else would work right up to the last?
The Queen would. That is incredible. What a remarkable commitment to her job.
She really was something else. No other monarch in the world commands this much respect. Even from corners of the globe that really have no ties to Britain anymore.
Places like the US. They’ve lowered their flags to half-mast.
Because, in a way, the Queen became a symbol for many people in the English speaking world, even if England itself meant nothing to them.
A symbol of what you may ask?
Maybe of times gone past, of an old way of doing things. But maybe of a kind of ideal. A person of good character when so many news pages are filled with politicians and celebrities displaying the opposite.
A person who never stopped doing what she said she would. On her 21st birthday she said “I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.”
And she kept that promise.
Maybe also because we watched her publicly face the challenges of being a mum, a grandmother, and the head of a family. That’s a job a lot of us know is hard enough without having to do it in public.
I think we’ve got used to how hard the Queen worked. We’ve never seen anyone else do it, so we have no point of comparison.
But I think in time we will come to really understand how much she must’ve pushed herself. All of her life and right up to the end, even two days ago .
Isn’t that remarkable? Wasn’t she remarkable?
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.
1 comment:
It makes me homesick for the uk even though i am a kiwi. I loved living in london when i was in my 20s. She was an absolute legend and someone who was selfless. I think people are a bit scared now about what the future will be like without her as our rock. But at the end of the day it is up to us, to live up to her standards and not let darkness descend. In the words of paddington bear - thank you ma'am for everything
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