zeleina . urban fairy: ♚ Long May She Reign ♛

Saturday, June 2, 2012

♚ Long May She Reign ♛

I may be a california-born urban faerie, I may be in my 20's, but I could never forsake my British roots. Today begins the year-long celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year as monarch of the Commonwealth. And I for one intend to join in the jubilee. Regardless of politics, regardless of privilege, I consider The Queen to be an incredible woman and role model. She has been through challenges most of us can hardly comprehend. In one year alone (1992), at what in the U.S. would be considered retirement age, she experienced what she has since dubbed her 'annus horribilis' (horrible year). That was the year her sons Charles and Andrew separated from their wives, her daughter Anne divorced, and a fire wreaked havoc on a portion of Windsor Castle.

Most of us recognize her at a glance. In fact, any photo of a 'cute white-haired lady with a hat' brings to mind The Queen. But today I want to touch on just a few of the sweet moments of her life that we seldom see photographs of these days... And I will mention some of my favorite bits about her, per ever-useful and omniscient Wikipedia.

Princess Elizabeth aged 7, 1933 Painting by Philip de László

Elizabeth's only sibling was Princess Margaret, born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as "Crawfie". Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music. To the dismay of the royal family, in 1950 Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved."

Under service number 230873 she trained as a mechanic and driver during WWII... love this girl!

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and her sister mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of London. She later said in a rare interview, "we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."