ROYAL LESSONS FROM A QUEEN IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD
THE day Queen Elizabeth II passed, I came to realize how much this extraordinary woman affected my understanding of the relationship in human interaction, our society, and values on so many levels.
Here was a woman, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and Queen who by birth, unprecedented circumstances, and without wishing it inherited great responsibility requiring unwavering commitment while under the scrutiny and judgement of the world.
Some saw her role as a life of privilege and luxury.
The more discerning saw the shackles of duty and protocol on a woman who wore them with the honour and dignity expected of her office. Elizabeth II was, to the very end, a stabilizing influence that balanced the power of ambitious politics.
She delivered more than what was expected of her while also dealing with the wayward behaviour of her siblings, children, and their partners to become an inspiration to us all leaving a legacy that will go down in the annals of history.
When we look at great women throughout history there are many role models we could choose from. But it has been my experience that in today’s blinding rush to the future, history, and the lessons from it has become irrelevant.
Elizabeth II has been there for all our lives and is fresh in memory. I don’t know what Elizabeth II thought of the identity war revolving around the definition of “female, woman, mother, breast feeding” etc.
Nor do I need to speculate. What I do know is that she knew who she was, what her role entailed and stepped forward with determination to fill it.
If there was question or doubt, she overcame it by boldly stepping into the breech. When she erred, she had the strength and character to change direction. She grew with the times but never compromised her fundamental values. I trust her son; Charles III, will follow in her footsteps.
Throughout her long-life, either consciously or unconsciously, Elizabeth II demonstrated by example and action the equality of the sexes. Her birthright and title may have allowed her to do so but it was not because of it. The strength was her own.
Having over the past 70odd years watched as women fight to gain true equality, their rightful place in our society, I am confounded as to why a radical and vocal minority of both genders would dismantle their gains by creating a manufactured identity crisis. Watching people in high office stumble, back pedal and obfuscate when asked, “What is your definition of a woman?” may make good media but it gives a demeaning and senseless topic oxygen when its relevance and credibility should be starved of such, recognized for the vile destabilizing element it is and rejected totally.
I’m not a royalist and have issues with the republican option, but neither position should I take one detracts from the respect Elizabeth II inspired in how she played her role as a Queen, a woman, a mother and leader.
We could all do well to learn from her. May her life and legacy be a lesson for us all.