It was on this date in 1952 that King George VI of England died. His 25-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, became Queen.
That was 70 years ago. She still reigns, the longest serving monarch in British and Commonwealth history.
To put it in perspective, during her reign there have been 12 Canadian Prime Ministers and 14 American presidents. Probaly more British Prime Ministers than that – I don’t know British history well enough to count those from the past 70 years in my head.
I have never met the Queen, though I know people who have. They all have spoken highly of her.
The closest I came was in 1973 (I think – it could have been 1976) when she was visiting Ottawa. I was in the crowd on Parliament Hill when she spent some time walking and talking with those in attendance. I can’t remember how far away I was (pretty close I think) but I wasn’t one of the people she chose to talk with.
For most people Elizabeth II is the only Queen we have known. I would imagine you would have to be at least 80 to have any significant memories of her father (Though I suppose many of us think we remember him thanks to Hollywood movies and television series.)
In a world where our leaders are frequently brought down by scandal, Elizabeth has managed to stay the course, setting an example for others to follow.
When she dies, as she inevitably will, the world will change, and not for the better. Her heirs don’t seem to have her gravitas. She has understood her role and dedicated her life to her people. How many leaders can really say that?
I’m sure when that day comes, many Canadians will re-examine the need for our country to have a monarch, especially one who lives in another country. No-one wants to lose the affiliation with Elizabeth, but I don’t know how many people would be excited about her son Charles taking on the job. Or even grandson William.
Still, it may be a few years yet before we have that discussion. After all, her mother was 101 when she died.
Given the affection Canadians have for Elizabeth II, it does seem appropriate to remind ourselves of the words to what used to be our national anthem. (And if you are Canadian you probably didn’t realize there was more than the first verse.)
God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen!
O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!
random thoughts from lorne 
Apparently it will take a unanimous vote in the House of Commons, the Senate, and all 13 provincial and territorial governments for Canada to change its relationship to the Crown. Good luck getting that through.
PS–I will personally never recognize that concubine of Charles’ as queen.
Yes, an incredible accommplishment.
I remember the alternate version that we would look at in elementary school in Montreal (as we would play both O Canada and God save the Queen at our assemblies).
In particular, I remember the lines, “send her to Halifax, make her pay income tax..”.
Phil
On Sun 06/02/22 10:00 AM , random thoughts from lorne comment-reply@wordpress.com sent: > a:hover {color: red;}a {text-decoration: underline;color: > #0088cc;}a.primaryactionlink:link, a.primaryactionlink:visited { > background-color: #2585B2; color: #fff; }a.primaryactionlink:hover, > a.primaryactionlink:active { background-color: #11729E !important; > color: #fff !important; }/* @media only screen and (max-device-width: > 480px) { .post { min-width: 700px !important; }}*/ WordPress.com > Lorne Anderson posted: “It was on this date in 1952 that King George > VI of England died. His 25-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, became > Queen.That was 70 years ago. She still reigns, the longest serving > monarch in British and Commonwealth history.To put it in perspecti” >
You know, I almost put those lyrics in the original post, After all, we were prescient – she does now pay income tax. Not sure why we had Holloween in our version, except that it was the only word we kids knew that rhymed with Queen.