For many people it is hard to understand how someone like me could respect and adore a person who was born into a life of luxury and privilege. Or maybe not. For the entirety of my life, 40 years to be precise, I have lived as a subject of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. I am also Australian, a country that requires a journey of some 24 hours or so by plane to a (United) Kingdom that is ruled by Her Majesty, The Queen. In fact, if truth be told, I have only stepped foot on the ground of her beloved (United) Kingdom, twice in my life. Yet Her Majesty has stepped foot on Australia's land a total of 16 times over her illustrious reign.
There hasn't been a time in my life when at some point or another The Queen has come up as a topic of conversation, been on the TV or a magazine cover, or simply been right in front of my eyes via a coin, stamp or even a picture on the wall looking down at me as I listened to my teacher attempt to teach his or her class. It seems like a lifetime ago that as a child, when the national anthem played we all had to stand up and face that very picture as we sang. For so many years, and before the age of communication, The Queen in that picture seemed like a fairytale, someone that was beyond this earth, whimsical even. She still is.
Today sees Her Majesty mark yet another milestone in a life that has seen it's fair share of the good and the bad, and everything else in between. Today she celebrates 90 years of age and also the fact that she is the oldest living Monarch in the world, something that many would associate with a sedentary lifestyle, the complete opposite where Her Majesty is concerned. It is this and many other traits that I truly admire about The Queen, she just never stops, never gives into a dramatic outburst and for as long as I can remember, has stayed completely focused on just what it is she believes she was meant to do: serve her people.
I know that for many, they will not understand how I could possibly respect a woman who is part of an age old institution that's based purely on birth right, something that in my opinion is not only exclusive to royalty in this day and age. I look at the strength and stability that she has brought to her family and many nations in their time of grief, misunderstanding and even political uprising. She never gives her political opinion and yet always ensures that her presence is felt. She is a constitutional monarch and not absolute, she pays taxes and and against her will, her life and all it's belongings are there for public consumption, criticism and more often than not, scrutiny. Through all this, never once has she ever publicly complained, instead, she has gotten on with "the job at hand", being The Queen.
Today is a day that Her Majesty, The Queen should revel in, a day well earned, well lived and well deserved. Happy, happy Birthday and may there be many more.
Long live The Queen!
For more information on Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II:
https://www.royal.uk/search/her-majesty-the-queen
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