The Queen Is Dead. Long Live The King.

When Elizabeth ascended the throne, the words that rang out were, The King Is Dead. Long Live The Queen.

Now that Charles III has ascended the throne, the words that will be officially acclaimed sometime soon will be, The Queen Is Dead. Long Live The King.

Britons will have to get used to changes to the words in their National Anthem. The title will be God Save The King.

Spanning Three Monarchs

When I was born in India, that country was a part of the British Empire. King George VI reigned. In1952 after his death, Queen Elizabeth II became the monarch. Now King Charles III is the new monarch.

It is hard to think that my life has spanned three British monarchs. You have to be at least 70 years old to claim this.

The Shrinking Of The British Empire

When Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, she ruled countries that stretched all around the globe that coined the term, the sun never set on the British Empire.

According to the History Channel, it was estimated that at the height of the British Empire between the World Wars, one out of four people was a British Subject spread over 70 territories worldwide.

As a kid growing up in India, this state of affairs started to change. Britain found itself ruling an empire in crisis. In oorder to survive, it had to divest itself of these colonies.

Little by little, these countries were granted their independence, starting with India, Pakistan, and Burma in 1948. Most of the colonies became independent in the 1960s. The last significant colony was Hong Kong. It was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

The Transformation

The Queen oversaw the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth Of Nations, where most of these countries remained. This idea appealed to her.

A few countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Jamaica among a total of 14 besides the UK continued to recognize the Queen as the Head Of State of their countries.

The rest became republics, like India, and instituted their heads of state.

You can learn more about the British Empire through this link: https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire

Focus And Hard Work

We can all learn several lessons from Queen Elizabeth. She was committed to her role as The Head Of State. Her work ethic was legendary. She was super focused on what her responsibilities were.

However, she also had a sense of humor. And when changes were necessary to maintain her connection with her subjects, she made them.

Every day the Queen was given a box covered in red leather that was filled with Government papers for her attention. Yes, EVERY DAY during the year except for Christmas and Easter.

Without fail, when the couriers came to collect this box the next day, she had completed all the tasks that needed her attention.

How many of us work at our business 363 days a year? Fortunately, we don't have to in order to become successful in our business.

But we do need to stay focused and work hard consistently to achieve the success we want.

My Thoughts

Although I lived in England for over two decades, I never saw the Queen there. Instead, the only time I saw Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip live was when they visited India in 1961.

Our whole family joined hundreds of thousands that lined the streets during her journey from the Airport to the Governor's Mansion.

Her cavalcade moved slow enough for her to stand up. So we got a good view of the Queen as she passed by close to where we were standing.

When I left England for Canada, I had a feeling of sadness that the Queen would not be close to home compared to England.

I loved the pomp and circumstance associated with the Queen. The one I remember most vividly was The Evening News Thames Pageant in the mid-1960s where a flotilla of decorated boats sailed down the river Thames. I stood on one of the bridges to get a good view.

There was an amazing firework display at the end. I can't remember what Royal occasion that celebrated but it was fun.

The Royal Funeral & Coronation

I now anticipate the funeral of The Queen which will be quite an amazing spectacle. The Queen was not crowned until a year after she became Queen. Hence, the coronation of King Charles will take place in the latter part of 2023.

As a kid in India, our family went to the movies to see a lavish documentary called A Queen Is Crowned. It was held at the Globe Theater in Calcutta. There was a huge golden crown over the entrance.

In honor of Queen Elizabeth, I will leave you with this link to the video where you can see excerpts of this incredible documentary in technicolor narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier.

A Queen Is Crowned

The original lo-fi documentary can be seen on YouTube here.