From The Desk Of D. A. Sigler: Editorial Of The News Of The Day: Life And Legacy Of Queen Elizabeth II.

“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.” Elizabeth’s speech on her 21st Birthday, 1947.

I am English enough being born in Suffolk, England. I have lost a queen.

She was a Monarch without real power and yet she symbolized a countries history and heritage. She was Queen Elizabeth The Second, longest reigning monarch at 70 years of English history, 1952-2022; Queen Victoria reigned 63 years and seven months as the previous longest reigning monarch. She was the daughter of King George VI, (1895-1952; reigning as King George VI, 1936-1952; and excellent film on him was the 2010 “The King’s Speech” with Colin Firth, where he won Best Actor). Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926 at Mayfair, in London. Her father died in February of 1952 , Elizabeth was 35, when she became Queen of The United Kingdom and at the time 25 members of the Commonwealth of Nations; there are only seven now. She was queen regent of 32 countries during her long reign and 15 at the time of her death. She reigned as a Constitutional Monarch. She reigned for 70 years and 214 days through the latter years of the once great British Empire and reigned through major political challenges such as the troubles in Northern Ireland, the devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonization of Africa and the United Kingdom accessing to the European Communities and the entry and with drawl of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and the Falkland Island War, April 2-June 24, 1982 with Argentina. Elizabeth served as an ambulance and mechanic during the Second World War, 1939-1945. She served her country even then and placed herself in danger in a country at war and one being constantly under attack from the German Luftwaffe . Their was the idea to send her and her sister, Margaret, (1920-2002), off to Canada but that was rejected by her mother, Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-lyon, (1900-2002), who refused to allow it as the children refused to leave without her and she refused to leave with out the king and he refused to leave as well; so all stayed in the danger zone to be a symbol of resistance of Nazi Germany aggression. Elizabeth was married to Prince Philip Mountbatten, (1921-2021), of Greece and Denmark; they first met in 1934. They would marry on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abby. Her first Prime Minister was Winston Churchill, (1874-1965, PM, 1951-1955). The other well known Prime Minister during her long reign was Margaret Thatcher, (1925-2013, PM, 1979-1990). This is a very brief sketch of the woman known as Queen Elizabeth II.

She lived through most of the history of the last century. She was loved as a woman and Queen of the United Kingdom. She was a monarch without authority as the past kings and queens of the United Kingdom and before it was known as the United Kingdom. She was if anything a symbol of the history, a heritage, of a people who have been through a lot to remain a people. She was a symbol of the better side of the monarchy of the English people and history. She may have had no power but she had the power to be a symbol of the great past and a hopeful future. She was a symbol along with her father, George VI, during the Second World War at the countries darkest hours; the Battle of Britain was a very dark hour under the leadership of Winston Churchill her own future Prime Minister. Her long reign of 70 years is a look at an empire that was and has collapsed and is mostly symbolic in her life and reign. She was a woman of charm, grace, and a sense of her duty was always in her mind. She always saw her life as being service to her country and it’s people. She understood duty, responsibility, and seriousness of being a monarch in symbol only and that was to present England as a country still worth being in leadership. She was a woman of warmth, kindness, and showed the better side of the British personality; another duty of all symbols of all monarchy. The English People loved their queen; maybe not so much all the royal family, but certainly their Queen Elizabeth was always their queen. She was loved, she was thought of very highly , she was mourned at her death. The biography I would recommend on the life of this interesting woman would be, “Elizabeth The Queen: The Life Of A Modern Monarch.” By. Sally Bedell Smith. Excellent biography. A good movie on her reign, “The Queen.” (2006), starring Helen Mirren, who won Best Actress.There was of course more to her life and legacy than what I wrote; you don’t live 96 years and reign for 70 years without living a life worth noting. She symbolized everything about the United Kingdom worth remembering and worth praising; her family was a mess, she was not. Who was Queen Elizabeth II, a woman of faith, courage, and the deep sense of duty to her country.