Opinion | Queen Elizabeth II: A perspective.

By Rayees ibn Mushtaq

Privilege with duty, office with service, and power with responsibility. As someone who lived through a world war, saw its prison cast a shadow over world politics, witnessed revolutions and the birth of new democracies, Queen Elizabeth had an unparalleled view of world history. . The original Iron Lady, she persevered through public and private tragedies. smiled gently through his celebration; And when trouble presents itself, he gnashes his teeth invisibly but inevitably. England’s longest-reigning monarch, the world’s most beloved unelected public official, and the best great-grandmother ever, is going through some devastating changes and countless challenges for her beloved Balmoral.

There were many, perhaps caused by an ill-advised love accident that forced his uncle to abdicate and make his benevolent father king, at a time when England needed him most. There was an initial struggle to settle into his role, formal but popular, aloof but respectful, didactic but not intrusive. He presided over the decolonization of much of the world as his country withdrew from large parts of Africa. He saw America, a former colony, as the older brother in a special relationship. And she was part of an England that became one of the world’s most multicultural societies, a model of ethnic coexistence and communal harmony.

Through it all, he kept his faith, followed what he was taught, and above all, persevered. It wasn’t easy. She was as much a woman, wife, and mother as she was a queen. She has chosen to put aside her early troubles in her marriage to Prince Philip, swallow her disappointment with her son Andrew, and choose to avoid the disaster of Charles’ marriage to Diana and, more recently, her granddaughter. Why did The monarchy face accusations of racism? -Law If 1992 was her annus horribilis, the year Diana declared she was the Queen of Hearts, the years since have proven that persistence and resilience can be powerful propellants. His speech in 1997, when Diana tragically died in a car crash, was a masterclass in handling the nation’s emotions when he said: “In good times and in bad, Diana always had her smile and She was kind to laugh, demonstrate, and encourage. I admired and respected her for her energy and commitment to others, and especially her dedication to her two boys.

The early lessons of duty that his parents taught him stood him in good stead. At the age of 14, during World War II, he made a radio broadcast in which he said: “We are trying to help our brave sailors, soldiers, and airmen as much as we can, and we are trying We have been to bear our lives. Our share of the danger and sorrow of war. We know, every one of us, that all will be well in the end.” He has modified this speech in every major crisis, most recently during the pandemic in April 2020, when he promised the world that “we have yet to endure, better days will return: we will We will be with our friends; we will be with our families again. We will meet again.”

Indeed, we did, though not for long. The Queen became increasingly frail, especially during her lavish Platinum Jubilee celebrations, no doubt strained by the absence of her lifelong love, Philip, who died in 2021. was He was a victim. He was full of sadness. Queen’s life is easy to watch and watch. On the occasion of his coronation in 1953, for the first time, only the Dhoom and the Circumstances were televised. It’s also easy to mock the Windsor version of the simple life, which was praised in a devastating 1969 BBC documentary and then buried. But it’s not so easy to see the tough decisions they make, whether it’s advising Charles and Diana to split up if they can’t see eye to eye, watching Prince Andrew take away their privileges, and Prince Harry To be sure, no one can enjoy the perks of being royalty without working for him as he likes. For Elizabeth, the crown was, above all, no unnecessary burden or dead weight. Nor was it an ornament to show the world. It was a privilege, a sacrament, a cachet, a work for life.

we have seen the Queen in documentaries, and movies, most recently in The Crown, Netflix’s most popular series. Often, the firm is seen less as a tightly run private limited company and more as a dysfunctional family full of lazy toffs. But the Queen has always been aware of the troubles from within, reforming, trimming, and limiting what she could do. in settling the question of what Camilla would be called, in indicating her successor, and in presenting a united face to the world, with all its wear and tear, she was in a way Mother England, steering her nation’s destiny, handbag in tow.

She was not only the army chief of the nation but also its comforter in chief. She was a woman who could proudly say that she was gifted a handkerchief by Mahatma Gandhi, danced with Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, and shook hands with Martin McGuinness, a senior leader of the Irish Republican Army, whose relationship Killed Lord Louis was from Mountbatten. She may not have been a politician but she was a shrewd practitioner of political gestures. During his long public career, he never overstepped his mark, no matter the provocation. He showed great determination but also devotion to the motto of his forefathers. “If we all go forward with unshakable faith, a high carriage, and a quiet heart, we shall make this ancient commonwealth, which we all love, a little more, a freer, a more prosperous, happier, and more will be able to. world,” he said on his 21st birthday. She stuck to it till her last breath.

Longevity is an undervalued quality in today’s fast-paced lifestyle culture. But this is an important one. Just remember this: When Queen Elizabeth took over from her father, America had a polio epidemic, Nelson Mandela had just been arrested, and the birth control pill had just been invented. For a public figure to effect change for himself, his nation, and the Commonwealth, was perhaps his greatest gift and his most unique legacy. As the second Elizabethan age ends, and a new monarch takes over, she will need his wisdom. His intelligence, and his unquenchable hunger to serve others.

Elizabeth began her 2012 Jubilee tour in Leicester. In one of Britain’s most diverse cities, her grandson William recently unveiled a new national memorial to the Wanderlust generation of immigrants at Waterloo station, to mark the institution’s ambition to become a monarchy. could Reflect the same spirit. The future challenge for the monarchy will be to remain as relevant to younger generations of British people as it was to their parents and grandparents.

The unanswered question has always been how much the strong stability of the monarchy reflected assurance. The unchanged presence of Elizabeth herself. For this fortnight, the new king. After losing your mother, there will be a tremendous increase in public sympathy and goodwill. The oldest reigning monarch ever. Charles will decide in the coming months how to strike the right balance of continuity and change in his coronation.

For now, those who question whether the monarchy can survive a change in Britain will surely find its answer in these historical moments of collective ritual transformation of public engagement, which only mark once or twice in a lifetime. Their strong message is to bring change. A multi-ethnic society to share the traditions that remind us all that modern Britain is still Britain.