One’s plea for unity... let bygones be bygones
AT the end of what she called a ‘ bumpy’ year, in which the kingdom has arguably been less united than at any point in her reign, the Queen used yesterday’s Christmas message to make a simple request.
And she made it several times over: could we all, please, let bygones be bygones.
There was no mention of this year’s political upheavals, of course. But she spoke explicitly about the need to settle disagreements and move on.
The wartime generation had managed it, she said, as powerful images were broadcast of this year’s 75th anniversary of D-Day.
‘Sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations,’ she went on, ‘ putting past differences behind them.’
Noting all the efforts towards reconciliation since the war, she employed the phrase again: ‘By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together, we honour the freedom and democracy once won for us at so great a cost.’
Christ, said the Queen, had shown the world how to ‘ overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions’.
And, for the benefit of those who had still not got the message – or only just switched on the telly – she ended on the same thought: Christmas was ‘a timely reminder of what positive things can be achieved when people set aside past differences and come together’.
The best way to achieve this, she explained repeatedly, was through ‘ small steps’ – a phrase she had borrowed from the first man on the Moon. Recalling that this year is the 50th anniversary of Nasa’s Apollo 11 mission, she spoke of being ‘transfixed’ watching Neil Armstrong ‘taking a small step for man and a giant leap for mankind’.
And therein lay an important lesson: ‘It’s a reminder for us all that giant leaps often start with small steps.’ When it comes to rebuilding trust, ‘progress often comes through small steps’.
The birth of Jesus had been ‘ a seemingly small and insignificant step’ but Jesus himself had shown how ‘small steps taken in faith’ lead to ‘harmony and understanding’.
The Queen added: ‘It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.’
Here was a strong echo of her Christmas broadcast three years ago when she quoted the words of Mother (now Saint) Teresa of Calcutta who believed that ‘ small things’ change the world. ‘On our own, we cannot end wars,’ the Queen said in 2016, ‘but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.’ Few people might associate Neil Armstrong with Mother Teresa but both have clearly had the same inspirational effect on the Queen (who met them both).
However, it was her direct reference to 2019 that will be chiefly remembered by royal historians and commentators: ‘The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference.’
It has clearly been a bumpy ride for the monarchy as well as for the nation. A year that began and ended with dramas involving the Duke of Edinburgh (a January car crash and a December helicopter flight to hospital) saw the Crown also unwittingly drawn in to an unlawful prorogation of Parliament.
On top of all that, the unhappiness of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their royal role has, time and again, become headline news while the Duke of York’s BBC Newsnight interview has now, effectively, ostracised him from public life – including yesterday’s family stroll to Sandringham Church.
Yet, if the Sussexes were absent from Sandringham (they are spending this Christmas on the Duchess’s home patch in North America), they were much in the Queen’s thoughts as she linked the arrival of baby Archie to another royal landmark.
‘Two hundred years on from the birth of my great great grandmother, Queen Victoria, Prince Philip and I have been delighted to welcome our eighth great-grandchild into our family,’ she said, accompanied by a picture of her joyfully meeting the new seventh-in-line to the throne.
For all the setbacks, there was still an upbeat tone to this broadcast, culminating in the sight of the monarch and the next three monarchs-in-waiting – the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George – all ‘helping’ with the making of Christmas puddings for the Royal British Legion.
At one point, six-year-old Prince George was stirring his pudding with such gusto that the Queen beat a hasty retreat before the currants started flying. Right Royal