Finding a New Idol

Last night I watched the first part of the documentary about Queen Elizabeth and I found myself admiring her character. I used to be a royal follower when I was young and had a very good opinion of Queen Elizabeth until the disastrous day when she failed to recognize the People’s Princess. While I understood in some part that the Queen would be more supportive of her son the things one heard about Diana’s treatment at the hands of the royal family was not very good and my respect fell for all of them, including the Queen.

It’s been more than 20 years since Diana’s death so maybe it is time that I let those feelings go.

In listening to the biography I was impressed by her sweet nature as a young person and at the same time her seriousness in becoming the best possible heir to the throne when her father was suddenly thrown onto the throne (pun intended)! I have always understood her absolute determination to not let down the country or her family in abdicating in favour of her son as she enters extreme old age. The shock the family (as well as the country and the world) went through when Edward VIII abdicated was tremendous.

At the age of ten she suddenly had to alter her education and it was interesting to hear how her new mentor gave her 2 key points that she has stuck with through all these years; staying neutral in politics was an absolute must and staying in touch with the people through radio (and later television) for annual messages. She also had the strength of character and enthusiasm to sometimes defy her parents’ protective instincts by going her own way in certain areas, including participating in the war effort by being an ambulance driver (first having to learn to drive at the age of 19) and also in deciding for herself who she would marry. I am certainly not the biggest fan of Prince Phillip but he has proven himself to be a loyal husband and rock for the Queen.

I will enjoy the rest of this documentary series and also enjoy finding a new personality to admire and listen to in the future. (Others who I admire are Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton and Rachel Notley). For some reason the proper word for this following is slipping my mind but I am sure my readers will understand what I mean!