Yesterday was a very sad day for the Royal Family and for the country, Queen Elizabeth II died. Today, St Michael’s gathered to reflect on this sad news. We thought about the special person that the Queen has been and the great impact that her reign has had on our country, the commonwealth and the world.
As Queen, she was also the Head of The Church of England. Queen Elizabeth was a Christian and her faith was very important to her. In our Church of England school we set aside time to remember Queen Elizabeth II and pray for her and her family.
She spent 70 years on the throne, after being crowned on 2nd June 1953, meaning she ruled Britain for longer than any other King or Queen in history. During her time as Queen, lots of things changed in Britain. But one thing that never changed was her strong sense of duty to the UK and the Commonwealth.
Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered as a Queen who spent her life keeping the promise she made when she was first crowned – to serve her people and her country.
When Elizabeth was born in London on 21st April 1926, she wasn’t actually supposed to be in line to become the Queen. Her uncle Edward was King, and the rules meant that if he had children, they would one day succeed him. However, when Elizabeth was 10 years old, her life changed forever Edward gave up the throne and, on 12th May 1937, her father took over to become King George VI. This meant she would be Queen when he died.
As a young Princess, her life was dominated by World War II, during which the family lived at Windsor Castle. It was living through these difficult years that her sense of public duty started to shine through.
She helped to keep people’s spirits up by broadcasting messages of hope. In 1940, she gave her first speech on the radio at the age of just 14. In it, she sent her best wishes to children who had been evacuated from Britain to keep them safe from the war.
On her 21st birthday, she broadcast a message, saying: “I declare before you that my whole life – whether it be long or short – shall be devoted to your service.”
Her father died in 1952, which meant she became Queen. At this time, she did not just become the Queen of Great Britain. A big part of her role was being head of a special group of countries called the Commonwealth, which includes Australia, India, Jamaica and Canada. At the start of her reign, just 8 countries were part of this group. By the time she passed away, she had increased membership of the Commonwealth to 54 countries.
Another part of her job was to offer guidance to politicians here in the UK. She used to meet with the Prime Minister every week to be consulted on the biggest issues of the time. Throughout her reign, she worked with 15 different prime ministers. The last Prime Minster appointed was only on Tuesday!
Another annual duty was to deliver a Christmas message to the nation. The Queen delivered a Christmas message to the nation every single year of her reign apart from 1969, when a documentary had already been planned to go out.
There were many things she did as Queen – here are a few which showed her in a different light.
- World Cup presentation in 1966 when England won the trophy
- Meeting James Bond at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London
- Tea with Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee
A dawn of a new age for Britain – A new King: King Charles III
The values and virtues the Queen had shown were beautiful and precious. We can say these virtues can be seen as her crowning jewels. A few of these jewels were her service, her respect, her care for others, her sense of duty, her wisdom, her humour and her faith.
In gratitude we bid farewell to a greatly loved Queen. For her grace, humanity and sympathy, for her courage in adversity, for the happiness she brought to so many, for her steadfast pilgrimage of faith, for her example of service and for the duty which she rendered unflinchingly to her country, we thank and praise Almighty God.
As we commend Queen Elizabeth, his servant, to God’s mercy, let us especially pray for her family in their loss.