The Queen had to pass through a period of thick and thin. She had to face disobedience from some left leaning people of the country, evidenced by the record of a song by the most popular musical band of the time and possibly of all times, the Beatles
Her Majesty the Queen of England, Elizabeth the Second, has departed for her heavenly abode after 70 glorious years of her reign. It has triggered a wave of sadness around the globe. Elizabeth the Second was not only the queen of Britain but the Head of State of more than 50 Common Wealth countries around the world.
People, apart from the octogenarians, have been used to seeing the queen as something of a permanent political fixture in view of so many of the world leaders entering and exiting in a few years as against her long rule.
She even surpassed Queen Victoria, who ruled for 63 years beginning from 1838. Her sudden absence has thus been something hard to believe in the minds of millions.
The first queen sovereign to occupy the throne of England is Elizabeth I in the year 1553 after the death of her father King Henry VIII. She was so dedicated to the country that she remained unmarried despite being lured by some of the most eligible bachelors of that time.
Nepal was ruled by an equally illustrious King Mahendra Malla who would not have lunch before ensuring that there was smoke coming out of the houses of each citizen, indicating that no one was hungry.
Queen Elizabeth the Second came to the throne in the year 1952, a year before the sky touching Everest was scaled by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal.
Since her accession to the throne, she has maintained a popularity enjoyed by very few or none at all in the world. The glaring example is the removal of the monarchy through a popularly elected Constituent Assembly in Nepal.
Consequently, Gyanendra Shah continues to languish as the former king on the sidelines of national politics. Had he picked a lesson or two from the Queen, the 254-year-old monarchy would not have come to what many consider as an irreversible end, despite one of the national parties' vow to resurrect the king.
The Queen had to pass through a period of thick and thin. She had to face disobedience from some left leaning people of the country, evidenced by the record of a song by the most popular musical band of the time and possibly of all times, the Beatles, with the lyrics 'Her majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she does not have a lot to say. Her majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she changes from day to day'.
This song reflects the average impression of the people about the monarchy.
Despite this, she maintained her composure and continued to shower dignity as well as decency in public life.
Nepal has some of the fondest memories of Queen Elizabeth. She had visited Nepal on two occasions, first in 1961 and then in 1986.
As was customary, she was taken to Chitwan for hunting on the first occasion when she very enthusiastically took photographs with a moving camera, gifted by her father King George I, of a tiger shot by a courtier. She also knighted Edmund Hillary, one of the first to scale the top of Everest. On the second, she met the Gurkha veterans, including the seven who had earned the Victoria Cross for their bravery in the Second World War.
For the Americans, kings and queens are like fables, and the presidents of the United States were fascinated by the audience of the Queen. One can still see the images of U.S. presidents reflecting the astonishment of myth come incredibly and pleasantly true.
Many U.S. citizens considered her as the Queen of America as well.
Her son, Prince Charles, has naturally stepped into her shoes as the new King Charles III of England. Charles has tirelessly worked for the promotion of particularly art and architecture inside and outside the United Kingdom. He has written a very interesting book entitled 'A Vision of Britain'.
He is, however, not without critics. His critics like Sir Richard Rogers, a very famous architect who designed the likes of the Pampidou Centre in Paris, said that the need of the hour was a Britain of vision and not a vision of Britain even though it was a long time back in the past.
It will be a Herculean task to fill the newly created void. Charles was criticised for divorcing Princess Diana, who was liked by millions around the globe.
Her tragic demise in a road accident in Paris further saddened them.
Even though people have no reason to poke their nose into private affairs like whether to divorce or not, but they tend to take exception when it comes to public figures like the King of England and especially the successor of persona par excellence Queen Elizabeth the Second.
But given the enormous experience that the new King has gathered looking at the performance of the departed Queen, it should not be insurmountable.
People will be looking forward to the days of Charles III with keen interest. Charles I had a troubled time as he dissolved the Parliament on a number of occasions. He was unfortunately beheaded in the year 1648.
Charles II was reinstated as the King in the year 1660, following a dismal performance of the Republicans led by Oliver and later his son Richard Cromwell.
Tributes have been pouring from inside and outside Britain. Prime Minister of Britain Liz Truss rightly said that modern Britain has been built on the foundation rock of the Queen and that she is the spirit of modern Britain. In fact, Queen Elizabeth began her journey as a monarch but ended as the Matriarch.
U.S. President Biden recalled his meeting with the Queen, saying how great a person she was. Like Britain, Nepal also has been grieved by her demise not only because of the enormous love she had for the people of Nepal but also because of Britain being the first country that Nepal shared a diplomatic relation in 1816 when Nepal had to sign the Sugauli Treaty losing its much territory.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
