Throughout her life the Queen sought to unite the country she so faithfully served. Today we come together as a nation bonded by grief for one of the most remarkable people ever to grace the pages of our history.
Hers was a glorious reign.
When future generations come to write the story of this second Elizabethan age their words will be filled with admiration for a woman who defined the very essence of majesty.
For all the trials and tribulations we have lived through since she ascended the throne – the hardships, the wars, the downturns and the disappointments – we should always be thankful that we were witnesses to not just the country’s longest-serving monarch, but also one of its greatest.
There will be a time to celebrate her achievements – but now is the moment for mourning and commemoration.
The nation’s grief is raw, profound and unparalleled.
It speaks of the country’s affection for the women who has guided us through the past seven decades with great dignity and decorum.
And it speaks of the country’s appreciation for a life a devoted to public service. The longer she reigned, the deeper the ties between her and her subjects.
The respect in which she was held when she gingerly first wore the crown developed into a genuine bond of love and admiration.
For Her Majesty was a model for all that is best about the United Kingdom.
She lived her life as she would have wanted others to lead theirs: with decency, humility and understanding.
Even the most diehard republicans would have to admire her sense of duty and her defence of values which could so easily have been lost otherwise.
How fortunate we were to have her as our figurehead and how proud we were to have her representing the country on the world stage.
On her 21st birthday the Queen made this solemn vow: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or
short, shall be devoted to your service.”
It was a pledge she was never to break. She came to throne as Britain was still recovering from the Second World War and the sun was setting on the final days of the British Empire.
For the next seven decades she was to guide the country through a period of extraordinary technological and social change.
She has enjoyed or endured the task of listening to 15 Prime Ministers, met every US President since Eisenhower, hosted countless Commonwealth summits and made state visits to 116 countries.
In her lifetime came the internet, the mobile phone, the personal computer and birth of social media. Society has been transformed thanks to legalisation of homosexuality and abortion but it has also been riven by racial discrimination, inequality and recession.
The one constant in this fast-changing world was Her Majesty.
She has rallied the nation in the bad times, most recently with her words of reassurance at the height of the Covid pandemic, and sang with the nation during times of celebration.
Her interventions were few – she made only five major speeches to the nation – but they were all the more powerful for their rarity and the fact they came from someone who studiously rose above party politics in order to speak for the whole country.
Better than anyone else the Queen understood that things have to change if we want them to stay the same.
The monarchy has evolved gradually during her time on the throne to become less formal and more accessible but without ever losing its sense of majesty.
She has been such a fixture of our lives it is difficult to comprehend that we shall now have to sing Good Save the King, print new banknotes and update our postage stamps.
We will miss the familiarity of her Christmas message and the reassurance of her presence at major state events.
So too will we no longer be able to share her delight when one of her horses romps home at Ascot.
No monarch could reign for so long without attracting controversy. If the Queen did harbour regrets they might have included her delayed visit to the site of the Aberfan disaster in 1966 and her failure to respond immediately to the outpouring of public grief at the
death of Princess Diana.
The Royal Family was tested by the “annus horribilis” in 1992, in which Charles separated from Diana and Windsor Castle was struck by fire.
More recently the Queen has suffered the loss of her husband Prince Philip and was obliged to face Harry and Meghan leaving royal life and the allegations levelled against her favourite son Prince Andrew.
It is a testament to her popularity and the way she has carefully carried the precious vase of sovereignty that there is scepticism that King Charles III will be able to emulate her achievements.
The reins have been handed to the next generation of Windsors.
They should cherish the inheritance they have received without being afraid to set the monarchy on a new path.
Above all they should seek to nurture the qualities which made the Queen’s reign so special: the unstinting sense of public duty and a pride in representing a nation she loved so dearly.
For Her Majesty it was always an honour to serve. The whole country, young and old, should be honoured we were witnesses to such an illustrious reign.
