As the world paid attention to the final hours of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, I was working. I had the task of writing her obituary for PJ Media to have ready when the media announced her death.
I had the BBC’s coverage of the day playing as I wrote (and edited other articles), so I was there when Huw Edwards made the announcement everyone dreaded to hear. As the BBC played “God Save the Queen” with a photo of Elizabeth on the screen, I shed a tear or two.
I’ve long admired Queen Elizabeth II. I’m not one of those people who are obsessed with the whole royal family, but, as someone whose heritage is largely British, I’m an Anglophile. And the queen gave us plenty of reasons to respect and love her.
For starters, she was the same age as my grandmother on my mother’s side — for years I’ve lovingly referred to the queen as “the world’s grandmother.”
I’ve also admired how she pledged herself to serving others. When she was only 21, Elizabeth gave a speech in which she said:
I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do. I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.
She made good on her pledge.
Queen Elizabeth was a woman of deep, admirable Christian faith. In her first televised Christmas speech in 1957, she said:
For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.
Queen Elizabeth II is with Jesus now, after a long life so well-lived. As Sam Allberry put it, “The servant Queen has now met the King she served.”
As Scottish Tory Murdo Fraser tweeted:
God save the Queen, indeed.
Photo by Tomas Martinez on Unsplash