258 Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II – My Favorite Reality TV Star

A belated happy 94th birthday to the Queen! 

For the few weeks, I have been trying to figure out what it is about this woman that fascinates me. 

I am a fan of hers but as an American of a somewhat liberal ideology, I had to do some real soul-searching to come up with why I find her appealing. Maybe you’ll agree with my reasoning or maybe you’ll think that’s not “savvy broad” thinking!

First, we “baby boomers” grew up with fairy tales. Oh, Walt Disney – you ruined the lives of so many little girls who believed that a prince would come and all she had to do was be beautiful and survive a wicked stepmother. 

Earlier fairy tales than Disney show the stories as cautionary tales rather than love fantasies. Maybe we should go back to those: don’t hang out with wolves in the forest; don’t stick your head in the oven, and don’t creep in someone’s house--eat their food and sleep in their bed! But--wait! Two commoners just married British princes in the past few years. Is that living the fantasy?

Elizabeth was crowned in June of 1953. She arrived at the Westminster Abbey in the gold state coach pulled by eight grey horses (Cinderella?) And here’s where the reality TV comes in: The Coronation of 1953 was ground-breaking in its own right--the first ever to be televised--it was watched by 27 million people in the UK alone and millions more audiences around the world. [Royal.uk/coronation] (An aside--I still have my Coronation coloring book!) 

Second, Americans love their pop culture. Royals are celebrities. We love our sports greats, our scandals (think Kardashians), our singers and actors and comedians and talk show hosts. These are the people--who in large part--form our opinions.

Third, the Royal family is removed from the daily politics of Britain compared with American politics. It’s okay to compare Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, but that’s not really relevant to do so when the mission work and goodwill tours of the Royal family are factored in. If we must address politics--Great Britain is still America’s greatest ally. (my opinion) Don’t you wish you knew what they were saying?

Fourth, we watched the Queen and Prince Phillip and their family grow up. Elizabeth has been Queen for 60 years. If my math is correct--we can have eight presidents in that period of time. Princess Diana was 20 years old when she married Prince Charles and the world has watched their two boys grow up. 

Don’t you wish you knew 

what they were saying?

Now we are watching William and Harry’s children grow up. Even Camilla has not turned out to be so bad--I think she really loves Charles. And is there enough press about Kate and Meghan? I am not sure we can escape without some knowledge of what’s going on. Sadly, we know much more about their lives than that of the women Joe Biden may consider for a running mate.

Fifth, and finally--I find Queen Elizabeth to lead by example. She works long and hard to fulfill her commitment to her position. Part of the Coronation oath is a yes answer to this question: “Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?” (Royal.uk/coronation) She shows dignity and respect to all in her public life and she has learned to embrace change--Harry/Meghan decisions and her April Covid-19 speech are examples. 

Besides that--she has marvelous hats and she loves dogs! I would say she is a VERY SAVVY BROAD!

Stay safe--don’t give up the masks and gloves yet. 

Savvy? Broad! Glenne