NPR had a nice piece this morning about Elizabeth II and the Diamond Jubilee celebrating her sixty-year reign.
One thing they mentioned was a poll showing that 69% of Brits said they would be worse off without the monarchy (which beats the numbers the elected leaders got). When they asked people about when Charles becomes king, however, the numbers went down, which means it's her they like. But when you think about it, for everybody 60 and under, she's the only sovereign they've ever known. Apparently she hasn't disappointed them too much. There was that one time they did get mad at her, when Diana died and the Queen didn't make a public fuss, but they have evidently forgiven her.
I was about five years old when Elizabeth II succeeded her father, so she is pretty much the only English monarch I've ever known too. I have always admired her, more so every time I read another book about her. I think the British people are fond of her for the same reason I am -- although not born to it, when circumstances conspired to put her on the throne, she accepted it and she gave up her life to take on the job. And, yes, I know how that sounds. Poor thing! She has to be Queen of England and have castles and palaces and horses and Corgis and be one of the richest people in the world, a head of state to whom everybody bows and curtsies -- what a shame.
Yes, but I would not be surprised if every now and then she secretly wishes she could put on jeans and a sweatshirt and go out for ice cream.
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