The grief for the Queen is huge. Not only in Great Britain, but also far beyond. Elizabeth II did not necessarily have the prerequisites to spark such enthusiasm for herself. It may have a lot to do with her perseverance, but not only.
At night, millions of Britons were invited to tea with the Queen. A poll published in 1992 found that Elizabeth II appeared regularly in dreams to about a third of the population, including staunch Republicans and Communists. Perhaps this shows most clearly how ubiquitous this woman has been over the past few decades: even when her subjects slept, they were still inspired by her.
The presence of this woman was enormous. This shows the sadness with which people around the world are reacting to their deaths. The expressions of condolence are so general and often seem so authentic that one can almost speak of great world pain. A sense of loss is palpable across cultures. The question should definitely be allowed: Why is that so?
After all, Elizabeth Windsor possessed no conspicuous talents. She has not achieved any scientific or sporting achievements. She had no particular artistic or oratory talent. Yes, some of her characteristics could even have been a disadvantage in order to leave a lasting impression: She was rather small with a height of probably between 1.50 and 1.60 meters and had a rather squeaky voice. In the fictional series “The Crown” she just seems dull at times. And yet, at the end of her life, she was almost universally honored. What was your secret of success?
A major reason was certainly simply their longevity, their sheer survival energy. The Queen has always been there. When she ascended the throne in 1952, German cities were still largely in ruins, homosexuality was a criminal offense and Konrad Adenauer was in his first term as chancellor. It is simply hard to imagine what an enormous period of time the Queen has bridged in office.
Practically everything has changed during this time – only it has remained as it was. The handbag, the hat, the headscarf. In a split second she was recognizable. This continuity must have had a tremendously stabilizing effect on the psyche of millions of people. The consistency was reinforced by the fact that the Queen was always in the same place at the same time of year: she spent her summer holidays at Balmoral Castle and her Christmas holidays at the Sandringham estate.
The Queen was aware of this role. Once, when she was shopping incognito at a tea shop in Norfolk and a customer told her she looked amazingly like the Queen, she replied, “How reassuring.”
But her sheer existence cannot have been the only reason for her success, because it could also have been that people would have simply grown tired of this late-feudal Corgi owner with her outrageously large fortune from centuries of cliquey of the English hereditary nobility. The fact that this was not the case can probably be explained by another main characteristic of the Queen – a characteristic with which she formed the greatest possible contrast to the Twitter zeitgeist in the last part of her life: she never gave an opinion and she did not rely on emotions.
Her chilled charm was famous, sometimes notorious. For example, employees have reported that she used to make small corrections to canned speeches. For example, if she reopened some hospital or bridge somewhere in the province and the manuscript said “I am very pleased to be here today,” you could be sure that she would emphasize “very.” too much In the age of shrill exaggeration, she was the epitome of British understatement.
This was accompanied by a certain immunity to praise and prizes. One could well imagine that one becomes megalomaniac after being at the head of a major state for seven decades. But this danger never existed with the Queen. She was certainly convinced of her mission, but she did not take herself too seriously in everyday life. Years ago, when she was introduced to a woman whose cell phone was ringing insistently at that moment, she finally said to her: “You should answer it. Maybe it’s someone important.”
“The word is the enemy of the mysterious,” says Thomas Mann, and the Queen has shown how right he was. Of course, sometimes she turned to the people and then sometimes said exactly the right thing, like during the Corona pandemic when she assured people that the phase of loneliness through self-isolation would not last forever. But on the whole, she has mostly remained silent and thus prevented signs of wear and tear. Here she might have a lesson for all social media lovers: You can go far by not saying anything.
The pictures of the highlights of their lives are now shown on television almost in a continuous loop. Pomp and circumstance. But of course that wasn’t everyday life. Everyday life was bland appointments somewhere far away. What Elizabeth never let on, however, is that citizens who have had the good fortune to meet her personally for a few brief moments have almost unanimously reported that she always made them feel genuinely interested in them.
This is how the Queen has primarily done her job over the years. Like almost everyone, she has had good times and bad. It’s easy to forget now that she wasn’t always popular, so in 1997 after the accidental death of Princess Diana she was considered heartless and out of date. But she didn’t let it demoralize her. With her own stoicism she just kept going.
This spirit is also reflected in the latest photos of her from last Tuesday, on the occasion of her meeting with the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle. In one of the pictures she is standing in front of the open fireplace, bent over her cane and already looking very pale and fragile. She does her job to the end. And she smiles at it. It is probably also this attitude that has caused it to live in a small room in the hearts of so many people for a long time to come.
