Monday, February 6, marks the 60th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II, upon the death of her father George VI. She was 26 years old at the time.
Only two other British monarchs reigned for at least 60 years; George III (1760-1820) and Victoria (1837-1901).
Being a native-born American, I'm naturally a republican (the small "r") as well as a Republican, but H.M. the Queen has always been a source of fascination and awe for me, "awe" in the sense of what she represents, the most impressive people ever to be in this world (although their "quality" has deteriorated considerably since 1945); a race which tried to bring decency and civilization to lesser places, but which like ancient Rome, ultimately failed due to the pressure of overwhelming numbers of barbarians and savages.
But they at least tried, and made a good show of it.
I was aware of H.M. the Queen even as a small child, when I collected coins and stamps, many of which, although from different countries, bore her likeness.
But she was just another faraway foreign personage, until I went to college. I wanted to major in history, but because I had gotten most of my college credits in American history via examination-for-credit, I had to concentrate upon some other sort of history, ending up doing the history of the British Empire and Commonwealth, during which time my respect and awe for her, and what she represents, grew.
God Save the Queen.
(http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t374/primitiveland/EIIR.jpg)
It's fashionable, it's trendy, it's cool, it's hip, it's with it, one supposes, for many for whom H.M. the Queen is part of their heritage, to disparage her "relevance" in their lives, especially among the younger sets in the faraway Dominions Beyond the Seas, but I suggest to such critics that if they toss more than a thousand years of their own heritage overboard, well, they're going to at the same time throw away something that makes they themselves unusual and distinctive.
God Save the Queen. Long may she reign.