Changing of the Guard

God Save the King

This morning, on rising New Zealand received the sad news that Her Majesty has passed. It seems fitting to make a comment and share the British national anthem performed for The Queen at the event of her Platinum Jubilee this year. How impressive that a day ago she was still working!

I have never been much of a royalist, Dutch (my origin), or British, (New Zealand is my home). But I felt very sad this morning, perhaps for both, because back when my birth county was occupied in WWII, the Dutch Royal Family were hosted and supported in exile in Great Britain. The Dutch Queen at that time, Wilhelmina was not only a figurative bastion of hope for the Dutch people, but also a practical one. Having watched documentaries, it was clear that while the Royal family has no great official power, their service and function were significant and not just figurative.

I have never seen the Queen in person, but have visited Buckingham Palace, at least outside for the changing of the guard, and visited the royal stables.

Kings and Queens don’t rule these days, although they still have a strong part to play, binding people and nations together. The Commonwealth wouldn’t have the same validity to me, without a royal family. It certainly wouldn’t hold under the Prime Minister. We sing national anthems at international sporting events, and while we don’t sing God Save the Queen/King anymore in New Zealand, we feel a sense of belonging to the royal history with its good and bad.

My father was visited by the late Duke of Edinburgh a number of times at his work at Auckland War Memorial Museum, although I haven’t laid my hands on photos he had taken with him, for the daily newspapers. He also modestly turned down the offer of honours recognition. He spoke well of Prince Philip, finding him astute and genuinely interested in his work. He was proud to be invited to a few black tie events in his honour, although he abhorred wearing any form of suit.

I do feel sad, that such an extraordinary monarch has passed away.

Long live the King.