CHRISTOPHER WILSON

WHEN Queen Victoria grew old she went into hiding, no longer feeling the need to keep in touch with the empire she had helped create.

Not so the Queen. In her 70 years on the throne, she’s never lost touch with her people, never once shied away from the public gaze.

When Victoria’s consort Prince Albert died in 1861 she barely appeared in public for the next six years.

Then she was just 42 and until her death at the age of 81 wore black, earning the nickname “The Widow of Windsor”.

Compare that to our sovereign, now 95 and readying herself this morning for the ordeal of her beloved husband Prince Philip’s memorial service.

Only last week she wore a beautiful floral dress, showing that even at her remarkable age she can put on a show.

Determined to pay her own very public tribute to the man who was her rock for over 70 years, she’ll enter Westminster Abbey via Poets’ Corner and take her seat in the spotlight.

Because of the recent deterioration in her mobility, she’ll need the help of a stick to get her to her seat.

She detests ever appearing less than 100 per cent fit – remember that working days lost through illness during her entire reign can be counted on the fingers of two hands – and she’ll put on her very best performance.

The monarch would prefer to pay her last respects in private but that sense of duty, instilled from birth, dictates that as the nation pays tribute, she must be there, leading from the front.

Victoria, nobody can deny, was a great queen but today’s courageous show is something else, something so extraordinary we must take it as one of the great milestones in royal history.

But now the Queen must be allowed to rest. She’s earned the nation’s love, honour and respect, but she would be even more loved if she enjoyed life’s pleasures in the autumn of her days.

Let this be her last major public appearance. But while she lives, let us continue to celebrate Lilibet’s unique contribution to the nation’s history.