For the six decades the Queen has been an enduring figure in the life of the
country as head of state, during her reign she has seen 11 prime ministers
come and go with David Cameron her 12th, while Barack Obama is also the 12th
US president to hold office since Her Majesty acceded to the throne.
To have reached this milestone is an extraordinary achievement, as well as a
testament to her family’s longevity. Only one other British monarch has done
so previously: Queen Victoria, whose Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1897.
For Her Majesty, what should be a joyful event will inevitably be tinged with
sadness. The anniversary of her accession – which she learned of while on
safari in Kenya – is also the anniversary of the day that her father died,
and her mother began a 50-year widowhood.
Her Golden Jubilee, in 2002, was accompanied by personal loss, with the deaths
in quick succession of both her mother and her sister.
Indeed, the total and selfless service and dedication that the Queen has shown in her 60 years on the throne have been all the more remarkable when you consider that it was a role she was never expected to fulfil, until the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII.
But it has been the Queen’s accomplishment to have kept the institution of royalty secure at a time when it could have been overrun by the forces of modernity, especially those unleashed in 1997 by the election of Tony Blair and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
And yet while television and technology has thrown more light on the Queen than on any of her predecessors, she has remained a private, even reticent individual, the very antithesis of what the modern celebrity culture demands.
Part of her importance is remaining a constant in a changing world and being a point of reference for politicians and public alike, as the historian and political biographer Ben Pimlott stated in his biography of her.
He wrote: "'The Queen's strength', as one of her aides, a friend for half a century, remarks, 'is that she doesn't change very much'."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Indeed, the total and selfless service and dedication that the Queen has shown in her 60 years on the throne have been all the more remarkable when you consider that it was a role she was never expected to fulfil, until the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII.
But it has been the Queen’s accomplishment to have kept the institution of royalty secure at a time when it could have been overrun by the forces of modernity, especially those unleashed in 1997 by the election of Tony Blair and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
And yet while television and technology has thrown more light on the Queen than on any of her predecessors, she has remained a private, even reticent individual, the very antithesis of what the modern celebrity culture demands.
Part of her importance is remaining a constant in a changing world and being a point of reference for politicians and public alike, as the historian and political biographer Ben Pimlott stated in his biography of her.
He wrote: "'The Queen's strength', as one of her aides, a friend for half a century, remarks, 'is that she doesn't change very much'."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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