An Appropriate Farewell For A Loved And Admired Leader

I’m sure some of you got up a bit early this morning to watch the funeral services for Queen Elizabeth II which is like nothing we in the United States could ever imagine for any individual.  All of what took place since her death might have been head-scratching to some here who don’t have a true understanding of the history of the United Kingdom and the role the Royal Family plays.

Like many of you I watched in amazement as people waited up to 14 hours to view her coffin for 10 seconds while the queen laid in state at Westminster Hall in London.  Mourners were quiet, respectful, and emotional and moved at the opportunity to pay their final respects to a woman who ruled the monarchy for 72 years.  While the queen and now the new king have no official political power they are clearly the face of the country.  We all know who they are but how many of you know who the Prime Minister is?  It’s Liz Truss and I imagine a very small percentage of you knew that which is to be expected since she’s only held that position since earlier this month.  She succeeded Boris Johnson who was the guy with the really bad hair.

I can’t think of anything in this country that even remotely matched the sorrow and mourning shown to Queen Elizabeth.  Maybe the only thing even comparable was the funeral for President Kennedy following his assassination in 1963 but even that was not close to what we have witnessed over the last week or so.

Everything surrounding the Royal Family may feel foreign to many of us here in the U.S. and there are plenty of those in England who feel it’s time to do away with all of the pomp and circumstance as well as the financial burden it places on the country.  However the monarchy goes back hundreds and hundreds of years and it is part of their history.  Queen Elizabeth II ruled the monarchy for more than 7 decades and did so at a time of tremendous change in her country and the world. Just try and grasp this statistic…80% of her countrymen were born after she ascended to the throne.  They knew of nobody else but her as the head of the monarchy.