Today is the seventieth anniversary of the accession to the throne of The Queen. The various messages to her that have been released as well as the film of her at Windsor and Sandringham together with her message to her realms and the Commonwealth mark the formal beginning of her Platinum Jubilee.
The particular events surrounding Her Majesty’s accession in 1952 added both to the poignancy of her and the Royal Family’s bereavement and created images that remain very powerful - those of the King’s farewell to his daughter and of her black clad figure descending from her aircraft upon her return.
As today seems to being a day for messages I will use this blog post to send and put on record my loyal greetings to Her Majesty and to record my appreciation of her role as Queen, as the symbol of her realms and as a dutiful exponent of the art of monarchy in the modern world.
A reign of seventy years is remarkable in so many ways and in coming months she will become the second longest reigning sovereign, with only King Louis XIV ahead of her for number of years at slightly over seventy two. He of course succeeded as a child of five, and was 23 before he began to exercise his powers.
The BBC News website has an interesting article by one of the Queen’s better biographers, Robert Lacey, about her formation as a child before her father’s accession in 1936. It makes clear that the then Princess Elizabeth of York was from her birth third in line to the throne, and seen as a potential monarch, and that to say that her emergence as heiress presumptive in 1936 was previously unlikely is simply bad or lazy history. The illustrated article can be read at When did young Elizabeth realise that one day she would become Queen?
One piece of especially good news in Her Majesty’s message released yesterday was her endorsement of the Duchess of Cornwall becoming in due time Queen Consort. The fact should, of course, never have been questioned, but it is good to see such a Majestic statement to resolve it.
She shows every sign of beating King Louis XIV, and let us hope she does. But sadly, there is little chance of her beating Pharoah Pepi II's 94 year reign, if that duration is accurate. (His reign was almost 4300 years ago, and I reckon its length was possibly exaggerated, although as he acceded to the throne at the age of 4 it could be accurate.)
ReplyDeleteJohn Ramsden
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