Journal editorial September 2022: Tribute to HM The Queen

As this month’s Journal was on the point of completion, news came through of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. This column, and the President’s, were rewritten in tribute.

For a high percentage of our readers, including many now into retirement, until that moment the Queen had been on the throne throughout their lives, offering a selfless dedication to the service of our country that hardly sits with the notion of “ruler” or “sovereign”.

Small wonder, then, that so many, supporters or otherwise of the institution of monarchy, held her in a level of high personal esteem, respect, affection, even love, reflected in the myriad tributes and personal memories already shared. As has been evident at successive jubilee celebrations, the continuity of her reign has had an extraordinary unifying effect on her country and her people.

What is notable also is the speed with which world leaders put aside other tasks in order to offer sincere and obviously very personal tributes to someone who, in President Macron’s words, “stood with the giants of the twentieth century on the path of history”.

For me, President Biden’s reference to “the incomparable power of her example” particularly hit the mark. Those who lead by example can have influence beyond any legal or physical power, and it is difficult to think of a stronger example of such leadership than Her Majesty’s conduct throughout her 70 year reign.

The United Kingdom, already going through a period of considerable turbulence, will now find itself seeking to hold on to the sense of unity, stability and continuity that the Queen personified during those decades. It is to be hoped that those who now lead our nation will be sensitive to the particular need to emulate her qualities if they wish to steer us through these times and towards a better future.