Photo: Julian Parker/UK Press/Getty
There is a reason why nations great and small — from India tothe West Indies— fought for independence from British imperial and colonial rule in the 20th century. Who wants to be treated like a second-class citizen in their own country?
Ireland was divided. Its land ravaged; its people starved. Beautiful and majestic in period dramas, British colonialism was ugly for millions of Black, brown and working-class white people who faced poverty and prejudice.
The Queen has been a constant in my life, even before I was born. My mother was among a group of schoolchildren who danced for her when she visited Trinidad and Tobago in 1966, four years after the nation gained independence from the U.K.
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(It’s also hard to ignore someone whose face is on the front of postage stamps and the money that you spend.)
Queen Elizabeth and British prime minister, Liz Truss, two days before she died.Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty
But what I find remarkable about the Queen — her life and her reign — was her devotion to service. Strip away the ills of colonialism, the pomp and ceremony of royalty. This woman’s life was irreparably changed when she was just 10. Whether or not we believe in monarchy, she believed her future was set in stone from that age onwards.
Born in 1926 to Albert and Elizabeth, the then-Duke and Duchess of York, she was always going to live a life of wealth and privilege. She’d be expected to marry well, but she could enjoy the spoils of her class and station with not many official demands made of her.
Then, as we know, in 1936 her uncle,King Edward VIIIabdicated, less than a year into his reign,to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Princess Elizabeth’s father became King George VI and, as his eldest child, she was first in line to throne.
By now, we’ve all heard that oft-repeated quote from the speech she gave to members of the British Empire and Commonwealth in 1947 to mark her21st birthday. She said, “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our imperial family to which we all belong.”
Queen Elizabeth (pictured here with Prince Philip) was already a wife and mother to King Charles and Princess Anne before she ascended to the throne.Corbis via Getty
She barely had to time to enjoy her life as a young wife and mother before her father died in 1952 and she became Queen. She was 25.
I know there are millions of people around the world who would have happily traded places with her — to live in opulent palaces, the recipient of inherited wealth, with servants to attend to her every need. Who wouldn’t want that? In a word, me.
Yes, the life of a royal is glamorous. But there are many not-so-fun things that the monarch must do. Going to open a library or a far-flung community center or a random school when it’s cold or windy or rainy is not the most stimulating daily activity. To wake up every morning and have your calendar already laid out before you to do the most tedious things.
Britain had 15 prime ministers duringQueen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign, from Winston Churchill toLiz Truss. During that time, she had to have weekly meetings with some men and women who I wouldn’t want to spend five minutes with, let alone give them counsel, knowing that she had no real power and they could leave her presence and do whatever they wanted (parliament allowing).
She couldn’t give a political opinion. She couldn’t vote. She didn’t have a voice in that sense. She rarely, if ever, betrayed her personal opinions. The Queen just did her duty.
She had to entertain some controversial world leaders — even some of whom had insulted the royals in the past. Yes, she had genuine warm relationships with people like the lateNelson Mandelaand former PresidentBarack Obamaand his wifeMichelle. But think of all the boring state dinners, tea parties and receptions that she had to attend.
I suffer fromdepression. Some days just getting up, showering, making myself look half decent and completing a workday is a gargantuan task. I can make small talk and schmooze with the best of them, but I’d find it excruciating tohaveto do it for most of my life, not through choice but because it’s a duty thrust upon me.
Like the queen’s uncle, King Edward VIII, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have walked away from royal life.Taylor Hill/WireImage, Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty
In a candid2017 interview withNewsweek, Prince Harry said, “Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.” Remember when he toldOprah Winfreyin the 2021 CBS special that as a workingroyal he was “trapped,“insisting that his father, nowKing Charles, and brother,Prince William, are trapped too? “They don’t get to leave, and I have huge compassion for that,” he said.
There is something beautiful about having the freedom to choose to live your life exactly as you see fit. To follow your heart.
King Edward VIII did it. He walked away from the crown. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex — facing immense backlash in the British press — have done it, pursuing their own happiness and peace of mind in California.Princess Margaretpartied hard, rubbed shoulders with celebs likeMick Jagger, smoked, drank and vacationed on theCaribbean island of Mustiquein between her royal duties.
As a princess, Queen Elizabeth joined the British Army to support the war effort at home.Keystone/Getty
Queen Elizabethdidn’t. She stayed. From joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service (the women’s branch of the British Army) in 1944 tosupport the World War IIeffort when she was a princess through her decades of charitable work, she did her duty. If most of us live to the age of 96, we would hope to (if we can afford it), spend the preceding 25 to 30 years retired. She didn’t.
No, her job wasn’t physically demanding. It didn’t pay pennies. She didn’t face homelessness or hunger. I don’t mourn the Queen of England because she’s royalty. And neither do I long for the British Empire (eye roll).
PEOPLE News Director, Marissa Charles, is a British American of Afro Caribbean decent.Ben Trivett
But I do marvel at a woman (born in the 20th century, no less) who devoted her life to serving her country in that way, not because she wanted to but because she felt it was her God-given duty, and she had no choice. I’m sure that many of us — despite all the wealth in the world — would not do the same.
source: people.com
