Sixty Years a Queen

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Sixty years ago today, the young Princess Elizabeth learnt of the death of her father, His Majesty King George VI.  As generations of British schoolchildren know, she was at the time staying at a remote lodge called Treetops in Kenya and the news took several hours to reach her.

Sixty years ago our countries were very different places.  We had emerged from the dark years of the Second World War. In our case of the United Kingdom this was an era of optimism.  A major Festival of Britain had celebrated economic recovery and hope for the future.  But in Central Europe, many countries including this one, had escaped one repressive regime only to come under the shadow of another ideology that would depress the human spirit and punish freedom of thought for several decades more.

Much has happened over those sixty years. Diseases have been conquered.  Man has climbed to the peak of Mount Everest and walked on the moon. Computers have become an indispensable part of everyday life.

Only the Queen’s great-great grandmother Queen Victoria has reigned over the United Kingdom for longer.  It is sobering to reflect upon the momentous events that have shaped history over the past sixty years. For my country those events included the rightful independence of many former colonies of a global British Empire and the growth of the 54 member Commonwealth. In Central Europe changes included the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution and the events that swept former Warsaw Pact countries back into the family of democratic European nations.

People around the world recognise the pageantry and tradition associated with the British Royal Family. But throughout this time the Queen has also been a reassuring figure of continuity, wisdom and commitment to duty. As Head of State not only of the United Kingdom but also Canada and 14 other Commonwealth nations, she wrote in a message today “I dedicate myself anew to your service”. The BBC this morning quoted a friend of the Queen describing her in the words of a much loved hymn as a “still small voice of calm”.

The UK will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee formally over the first weekend in June, the anniversary of The Queen’s 1953 Coronation.  The weather should be warmer by then.