We Americans have long been fascinated with the undying loyalty of the British to their royal family. They complain about them, make fun of them and have taken away all their formal power. Yet they still honor the royals and pay for their extravagant lifestyle. (Seriously, how many castles do they need?)
For citizens of the United Kingdom, the royal family represents tradition, the only sign of stability in this topsy-turvy world of inflation, climate change and political turmoil. So, it wasn’t surprising to see mobs of British citizens pour into the streets to mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She was their mother, grandmother and role model. Most of them had never known, nor could ever imagine, life without her.
It was surprising, however, to see a similar outpouring of grief here in the United States. Didn’t we fight a war to reject any traces of the British monarchy? We could also have been her subjects; we chose not to.
Yet Elizabeth’s death stopped America in its tracks. There were tributes on Wall Street and in Congress, rock concerts and baseball games. Cable television went wall-to-wall with reaction to her death. Network TV anchors popped up in front of Buckingham Palace. The New York Times devoted an entire section to historical coverage of the late monarch.
Why so much attention, and so much genuine grief, to Elizabeth’s passing on this side of the Atlantic? Actually, that’s not so hard to understand. Because, more and more, Elizabeth came to represent for us what she did for Brits. In a way, she was our queen, too. She provided a model of calm and constancy in a world of turmoil. And she displayed the qualities of leadership so lacking today in politicians on both sides of the pond.
Queen Elizabeth was, above all, a model of dignity and grace. She honored her people by conducting herself with honor in the high office she held. You could be proud of her. You never had to worry about holding your hands over your kids’ ears when she spoke, for fear of what vile words she might utter. She earned respect by treating people with respect.
Queen Elizabeth was not the most demonstrative of leaders. In fact, she was usually rather stoic. But there were times when her sense of humor burst out. At a meeting of world leaders in 2007, after President George W. Bush mistakenly noted that she’d helped celebrate our bicentennial in 1776, not 1976, the queen replied: “I wondered whether I should start this toast by saying ‘When I was here in 1776’…”
And you have to love the story told by her former security guard Richard Griffin about how the queen played a joke on two unsuspecting American tourists. Out for a walk near her Balmoral Castle, the queen and Griffin came upon two American tourists who didn’t recognize her. Enjoying the moment, she told them she’d never met the queen, but Griffin had. And they requested a photo with him, not her.
For 70 years, longer than most Brits have been alive, Queen Elizabeth was their titular leader. That in itself was a comfort and consolation. When everything was changing so fast and governments were careening from right to left and back again, there stood the queen: immovable, imperturbable — her presence the one thing they could count on.
And for all those 70 years, there’s no doubt about something else, too. Whether it was living through crises facing the government or dealing with her own dysfunctional family, Elizabeth was on the job. She was a dedicated public servant. While enormously wealthy, she saw herself and conducted herself as a servant of the people. Elected politicians everywhere could learn something from the unelected Queen Elizabeth II.
Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”