2012 is a very special year for Britain and the Commonwealth, as it commemorates the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. It is a year of celebrations that reach their climax in the first week of June: on Tuesday 5th, the Diamond Jubilee weekend will end with a day of celebrations in central London, which include a service at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by two receptions, a lunch at Westminster Hall, a Carriage Procession to Buckingham Palace and finally a balcony appearance and flypast.
A new Elizabethan age
The beginning of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign was heralded as a second Elizabethan age. Elizabeth I had reigned over England and Wales from 1558 to 1603; she had acceded to the throne after the death of her half-sister Mary, known as Bloody Mary because of the religious persecutions that characterised her five-year reign. Elizabeth I reigned in England for 45 years and though she was a woman in power in turbulent times, she managed to attract the love and admiration of her countrymen. Our Queen Elizabeth became queen after her father King George VI died in his sleep at his favourite home Sandringham House on 6 February 1952. She inherited a kingdom which seven years before had been plunged into one of the greatest wars of the 20th century; she was only 10 years old when her paternal uncle King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry a twice divorced American and it was at that tender age that she became aware that one day she would be queen.
Queen Elizabeth II is the sixth queen to reign in her own right, the others being, in chronological order, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria who is her great-great-grandmother. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on 21 April 1926, the eldest child and daughter of Prince Albert, then Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the ninth child of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Through both her parents, the present Queen can claim descent from the kings and queens of both England and Scotland, besides being related to the majority of Europe’s royal families, some of which are now either extinct or have been replaced by republics. In fact, during the 20th century, a good number of European monarchies were abolished; a case in point being the Greek royal family of which Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen’s husband, is a member. However, in the north and northwestern parts of Europe, the institution of monarchy seems to have found ways of adapting itself. Spain still retains its monarchy, the same as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Catholic Belgium.
A magnetic figure
I have been enamoured with the idea of monarchy since I was a little child; the notion of an institution dominated by one figure in whom continuity and a strong sense of dedication to one’s country become one and the same, is perhaps the secret behind the magnetic force that abounds in this peculiar type of government. It has to be said that throughout the ages, the British monarchy has lost almost all of its powers. Since the signing of the Magna Carta in the Middle Ages, the monarch began to lose his political power. However, I feel that the idea of authority and prestige vested in one person has remained intact even though some kings and queens did not live up to what was expected of them. Maintaining standards has been the hallmark of the present monarch; in her 60 years as queen, Elizabeth II has remained a source of both unity and continuity for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. The reality of having the same person representing a country for more than half a century is definitely one to be reckoned with. Since February 1952, when she had to cancel her Commonwealth tour to return to a bereaved Britain after receiving news of her father’s death, Europe has seen prime ministers come and go, Communism has met its abrupt end, fashion has changed hundreds of times, children have grown to become parents and grandparents and the Catholic Church has seen at least six different popes mounting the papal throne. When she became queen, she was a young woman of 25; now, at the age of 86, she celebrates her diamond jubilee. When Queen Victoria, the longest reigning monarch in British history died after 64 years as queen, she was five months away from celebrating her 82nd birthday.
A unique reign
Queen Elizabeth II is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror. Since 1952, she has conferred over 387,700 honours and awards. The Queen has broadcast a Christmas day message to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except in 1969, when a repeat of the film Royal Family was shown and a written message from the Queen issued. About 11 prime ministers have served her, beginning with Sir Winston Churchill up to the present one, David Cameron. Being a figure above politics, the Queen does not vote, neither is she allowed to show or express her political sympathies or beliefs. However, being both head of the Church of England and a woman of faith herself, she has never been reluctant to express the Christian virtues that have characterised the country of her forefathers, and which are perhaps so lacking in our modern age. In her annual Christmas messages, she has always sought to promote the great human and Christian values. What comes to mind here is what Canon John Andrew said about the Queen at the time of her coronation to emphasise her sense of spiritualiy: “The real significance of the coronation for her was the anointing, not the crowning.”
When she became queen 60 years ago, Britain was still an empire; now the Commonwealth has become the rightful inheritor of what was once the ‘empire on which the sun never sets’. No longer Empress of India like her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria but still Queen of the largest continent-island in the world Australia, Elizabeth II has – February last – become the second longest reigning monarch of Britain. Her great-great-great-great grandfather King George III was king from October 1760 to his death on 29 January 1820; nine months less than sixty years. The longest reigning British monarch was Queen Victoria, George III’s granddaughter. Not considering King Louis XIV, ‘The Sun King’ of France who assumed personal control of the reins of government in 1661 and reigned until his death in 1715 but who succeeded to the throne of France after his father’s death in 1643, was, strictly speaking, King of France for 72 years, Queen Elizabeth II is the third-longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe.
A Queen for our times
For those who cannot stand the monarchy or who reason that the monarchic system is outdated and out-of-touch with modern reality, no argument would suffice to convince them otherwise. However, if we look at the monarchy through the eyes of service as the young Princess Elizabeth did in 1947 when speaking to the Commonwealth at Cape Town and solemnly declared: “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,” then perhaps even sceptics might think twice before condemning this most ancient of political systems. No Florence Nightingale or Dorothy Day, Elizabeth II deserves a prominent place among the great women of history; no biographical dictionary of renowned women would be complete without a significant entry about this great British sovereign. If not for her philanthropic projects or any important discovery, Elizabeth II will be remembered as the lady who gave Britain a new face after the ravages of the Second World War and for launching the idea of Commonwealth as the empire of her father and grandfather came to a natural end.
Fr Attard was ordained priest in Gozo (Malta) in 2004. He studied for an M.Th. at the University of Edinburgh and an M.Lit (Divinity) at the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. He eccentrically considers himself the number one monarchy-maniac of the Maltese Islands.