Britain has had many different monarchs, some good, some bad and some, such as Mary I and George IV have been respectively tyrannical or dissolute. We’ve also had some lucky escapes when it comes to Kings, such as being spared, by the Abdication of Edward VIII, of the fate of being reigned over by a playboy at a time, during WWII, when strong leadership and good example was needed.
However, none of the monarchs who’ve reigned over Britons have achieved what Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has achieved. Her reign has been longer, and has encompassed more social change and political upheaval than any other monarch in British history. Today Her Majesty will have been on the throne of the United Kingdom for 65 years, a longer reign than any other monarch.
Her Majesty has seen 13 Prime Ministers come and go. She started off her reign with Winston Churchill as PM and she has met with and confided with every Prime Minister since then. The men and women who have travelled from the Palace of Westminster to Buckingham Palace as PM, have ranged from the controversial but still great ones like Margaret Thatcher, smart political operators like Harold Wilson right through to shifty snake oil salesmen like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Her Majesty’s reign has seen British politics sometimes rapidly shift from one side or one party to the other, but the Queen has still been there for all of her Prime Ministers, quietly counselling PM’s and probably being the only truly confidential ear for them to unburden their troubles that Prime Ministers have.
Her Majesty the Queen has carried out her duties with grace, intelligence, tact and aplomb and has earned the respect of her peoples. She has been an asset to the nation of Britain and to the nations overseas that still have her as their Head of State. Her Majesty’s reign has been so long that it has encompassed the end of the Korean War, the war in Vietnam, the rapid rise and social ubiquity of information technology, the end of the Cold War, the demise of the Communist slave states and the start of the great struggle between civilisation and the ideology of Islam. Queen Elizabeth’s reign is remarkable however not just for its longevity but for the way that Her Majesty has carried out her service. She has rarely put a foot wrong or misjudged a situation and there are very few people in public life who would be able to stake a claim to that sort of record
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Her Majesty for her long and diligent service, a service that has spanned so many eventful years and so much change in politics, social attitudes and technology.
Congratulations your Majesty. God Save The Queen!
