End of a Glorious Reign

 

After my previous post honoring Her Majesty, Queen Elisabeth II, Great Britain and the commonwealth's longest reigning monarch, we saw several of her horses' riders sporting the queen's royal purple and scarlet racing silks with lovely gold braid closures on the jacket and atop the black cap in a few races held during that iconic Royal Ascot race meeting in mid-June. Sadly, she wasn't able to attend the annual 5-day meeting during the week at age 96 (!) during the celebration of her Platinum Jubilee celebrating 70 years on the British throne due to persistent "mobility issues" that been limiting her ability to move about comfortably in public which she had done for so many decades.

Fortunately, for those of us who love horses and have followed her involvement with them as a serious student of the animal and the sport of racing as a breeder and owner of Thoroughbred race horses, her interest in them remained keen and served at one of the few amusements to which she was dedicated privately for much of her life. More details of that can be found online, so it's worth exploring online her interest in horses, racing and a country lifestyle more broadly.

As the end of summer season drew closer, one couldn't avoid the news report on September 8 of the serious concerns for her health was announced Buckingham Palace, followed several hours later by the posting of the official notice of her death at her beloved, private country home, Balmoral, in Scotland. 

She had lived a very long and full life dedicated, as she had promised, to serve the people of her beloved country and commonwealth. She was all about duty and embodied an impressively unwavering commitment to that noble task. No one before her did it as well or for as long. 

Very few alive today knew a time when Queen Elizabeth II wasn't on the throne and it will be a very different world without her going forward. I will miss seeing her from afar and knowing that she was always there, whether performing her royal duties or enjoying a day at the races or at Windsor Castle where she spent weekends as often as she could, riding the countryside on her favorite Fell pony, Emma, well into her 90s, or Sandringham, northeast of London, where the royal stud is located, or not far at Newmarket, where some of her horses trained for racing. She even sent one over to run in the US on occasion, including her home-bred young horse, Call To Mind, won the Belmont Invitational Derby, a stakes race at Belmont Park on Long Island, in 2018.

Whether or not you favor the monarchy, hers was a constitutional reign, not a political or executive one, but it was a long and glorious one whose longevity won't soon be repeated.

Rest easy now, ma'am, and thank you for your long service and all you did.

 

 

   

 

Long May She Wave...

 

 Souvenir Staffordshire pottery cup commemorating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.

Whether or not one is British, it's hard not to admire the long life and dedication of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne of the British Empire upon the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952. 

This is a role that neither she, nor he, expected to assume, but the abdication of his elder brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936 prompted the coronation of George, who was next in the line of succession. Edward abdicated rather than formally be crowned because, at the time, he was not permitted to marry a twice-divorced American woman and also serve as the sovereign.

George and his wife, Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), had two daughters, Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret, so it fell to their elder daughter, who was 11 when her father became king, to prepare to become queen upon his demise. 

Sadly, it was only 15 years later that Elizabeth had to step irrevocably into that supreme role at the young age of 25. Even earlier, on her 21st birthday, she resolutely declared "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." 

Seventy years later, on June 2, 2022, the anniversary of her formal coronation on June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II, at 96, has proven to be as enduring and dedicated as she vowed she would be when she was 21. 

How many of us can attest to such commitment to a job, to a task or to a mere notion that the pursuit of an effort for the benefit of the "greater good" is a challenge worth undertaking for a lifetime? Precious few, I'd say.

Congratulations, Your Majesty.

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(The souvenir coronation cup from my personal collection was purchased at a thrift store in upstate New York in 2018 for $2.)

Each New Day...

 It has been a long time - long winter, finally Spring, and soon - hard to believe - summer. I've been disinclined to post here since December. There have been many reasons for that, but it was time to resume and move forward. 

The world has been a perilous place with many troubling events in lands far and all too near. We can't necessarily solve all of the world's problems, but we can focus our attention on them, do what one can in a small way and perhaps, collectively, move ourselves and others toward a better place.

A new day, a new week and a new month begin again. One foot in front of the other, one day at at time. I'll be focusing on doing what I can to make this world a better place for myself, those around me and those far beyond.