Not a card

Well, I had intended to do a blog post with a card tonight.  But, I hope you will forgive me if I do something different.

There are many photos that can be shown of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.  I wanted to share one of her from 1945 when she had completed her training as a mechanic.  Even back then she showed her strength of character and resolve.  Taking on a task normally reserved for men.  From mechanic to ambulance driver to Queen of the Commonwealth.  Elizabeth took every role seriously and to heart.  She was a lover of animals and an advocate for climate change.  She was an astute woman who understood the role that television and media would play in her life.  Although, even she could never have anticipated the dark side of that media attention.

Elizabeth has been on the throne of England every day of my life.  What struck me today was that never again in my lifetime – nor for at least three generations of English Monarchs, will we ever again sing God Save the Queen.  During her lifetime I considered myself a royalist.  That sentiment ends with Charles.  I know times have changed, but to be the King  or Queen of England is an honor and a service that should be taken very seriously.  Elizabeth knew that and her service for her country always came first.  Even to her last act as Queen on Tuesday when she welcomed the new Prime Minister.  I believe Charles will take that seriously and I respect him for having taken on the bastions of architecture in the 1970s as they continued to build ghetto style housing that wasn't fit to be lived in and that contributed to the the social problems that beset them.  I respect him for having committed to climate change and to organic farming, long before it became popular.  I respect him for everything that his Prince's Trust has done for underprivileged youth.  We have yet to see how he will fare as King of England.  A job that he has been preparing for longer than I've been alive.  But I wish him well.

After him… what are we left with?  Well, I think it's time to discuss the end of the Monarchy.  Everything that Elizabeth stood for – the grandeur, the commitment to service, the allure of the Royals, the pomp and the ceremony brought in millions of dollars every year for the British economy.  In 2019, the Royal's reported contribution to the economy was around GBP 19 billion pounds per year (then around $28 billion) and all for a cost of about 1 pence per day per Brit.  Paying my money to have a private tour with cocktails at Buckingham Palace on a quiet summer evening was money I was happy to pay.  Happy to learn just a little more about the enigma that was Queen Elizabeth and see the treasures of the people and the throne that housed the Queen.

Although I am a supporter of Charles, I hate to admit that I am not a supporter of his children.  I feel for them having lost their mother so tragically and having to relive that moment and that horror over and over and over again.  Few of us, other than John F Kennedy's children and others, could understand what that felt like. However, it's time for them to move aside and be what they keep claiming they want to be – and live – normal people living normal lives. 

RIP Elizabeth Alexander Mary Windsor – thank you for your service you will be greatly missed.

Jaydee