Service as steady as a rock
A SOUTH African family who carved their way into the heart of Queen Elizabeth II and corresponded with her for decades say they are mourning the death of someone who became very “dear” to them over many years.
Tambuti Singh and his family built a relationship with her with the many unique gifts they carved from the spirostachys africana or Tambuti tree.
That’s how Kuber Eadav Singh became known as Tambuti and how he came to be in possession of several letters marked with the royal crest and ER, for Elizabeth Regina the Queen, which are proudly displayed in his workshop in Kwadukuza on the Kwazulu-natal north coast.
“It was really sad when we got the news. It was an honour knowing her,” said Singh’s son Rajiv, who helped his father carve the gifts to the queen.
He said they were shattered to hear about the death of the monarch who served her subjects for 70 years, 7 months and 2 days.
During her last visit to South Africa in 1995 she met Singh and his wife Amnithy, who presented her with a jewellery box in Durban.
She sent them a letter soon after, thanking them for the present.
In its letter of condolences yesterday, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said the queen and President Mandela held each other in deep respect and affection, were on first name terms and frequently spoke on the phone.
Chris Chivers, who was on the staff of Westminster Abbey and part of the team which designed and choreographed the service to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her coronation, said she had a particularly high regard for Mandela.
“He was certainly the only person in the world apart from her beloved late husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who called her Elizabeth!”
In 1947 she and her sister Princess Margaret accompanied their parents on a three-month journey through Southern Africa. Most of the tour was in South Africa and involved 17 000km of travel, almost half by rail.
The first state dinner featured sosaties, bobotie and Mrs Ball’s Chutney, while prime minister Jan Smuts escorted them up Table Mountain and to Royal Natal National Park.
Princess Elizabeth’s 21st birthday was marked with a military parade, government ball and a public ball. At noon 21-gun salutes were fired from Signal Hill, and the Vanguard.
South Africa gave her a gift of 21 flawless modern cut diamonds.
However, it was the princess’s speech, pre-recorded at Victoria Falls and broadcast on her birthday, that so movingly told of the life of service she expected to lead.
“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. But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.”
Despite the British monarchy’s long tradition of military service, Queen Elizabeth was the only female member of the royal family to serve in the armed forces, and the only modern head of state to have served in World War II – as a driver and mechanic.
As a constitutional monarch the queen was obliged not to comment directly on political contexts or situations. But those directly involved knew that behind the scenes she played a subtle but influential role in securing South Africa’s democracy.
Chivers said when she returned to South Africa for Human Rights Day in 1995 she was welcomed to St George’s Cathedral by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“She loved the Arch’s infectious humour and his energy. Her soft spots
for him – he received the Companion of Honour from her – as also for Nelson Mandela – who received the UK’S highest honour, the Order of Merit – showed just how important she believed to be the wholescale change of South Africa from pariah state to justly feted democracy. In this, she doubtless walked her own journey of transformation,” said Chivers.
Despite the respect she commanded and her reign over 15 realms, Elizabeth the monarch, mommy, Gan Gan (grandmother) and animal lover was also known for her keen sense of humour, love of corgis and horses, and her bright monotone outfits.
Born on April 21, 1926 in London, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was affectionately known as Lilibet because that’s how she pronounced her name as a little girl.
No one expected her to become queen because her father was only second in line to the throne. She became heir apparent when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson, and her father became King George VI.
The monarch’s love for Prince Phillip is a real princess fairytale.
She fell in love with the navy lieutenant at the age of 13. Phillip was her distant cousin and the Prince of Greece and Denmark. Love letters kept their romance alive and in 1947 they married in a ceremony she insisted was as simple as possible in acknowledgement of the period of austerity which followed the war. They remained together for 73 years until his death last April at the age of 99.
They had four children: Prince Charles (1948), Princess Anne (1950), Prince Andrew (1960) and Prince Edward (1964).
During a trip to various countries on behalf of her father who had been ill, she was asleep in a remote lodge in Kenya when the monarch died.
It was Phillip who told her her father had died overnight and she was now, at the age of 25, the queen and they returned home immediately.
Known for her devotion to duty, the queen worked up until two days before her death when she welcomed Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
During her monarchy the queen had 15 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill to Truss.
There were also 14 US presidents and seven popes.
In June she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne. Even though she was too
frail to attend some events in her honour, her keen sense of humour prevailed and she had tea and marmalade sandwiches with a favourite children’s fictional character, Paddington Bear.
Queen Elizabeth II witnessed enormous change throughout her reign moving from television to the internet and even online meetings.
It took some convincing for her to allow television cameras to broadcast her coronation on June 2 1953, as she felt it would dissolve some of the mystery and pageantry. She relented and it was broadcast on the wireless and television.
In the first two decades of her reign, at least 20 countries in Africa and the Caribbean gained independence from Britain.
She also weathered calls for the abolishment of the monarchy and in a speech to mark her Ruby Jubilee in 1992, she declared that year her “annus horribilis”.
It was the year that a fire broke out in Windsor Castle and destroyed 115 rooms in her favourite home. It was also the year which saw the end of the marriages of Prince Andrew to Sarah, Duchess of York, and Princess Anne
to Captain Mark Philips while Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales also separated that year.
In August 1997 the queen faced a public backlash over her handling of Diana’s death in a car crash, after she waited several days to make a public statement.
Most recently she has had to deal with Prince Andrew’s alleged sexual
assault of a minor after which he was stripped of royal duties.
Prince Harry and Meg han Markle quit as senior working royals and moved to the US, and made inflammatory accusations against the royal family.
The queen died at Balmoral on Thursday just hours after doctors said they were concerned about her health.