When Living History Becomes Historical

On September 8, 2022, it was announced the UK's longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, had died. She "passed peacefully" with her oldest son and heir, Prince Charles, and only daughter, Princess Anne, with her. She was 96. She is survived by 4 children, 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

She was 'Living History'. 

Her reign stretched from 1952 until 2022, seventy years. Think of the things she was born without, because they didn't exist yet: the beginning and end of WW2, the birth of tv, of satellites & cable, of Sirus radio, computers, laptops, flat screens, tablets, internet, cordless phones, cell phones, smartphones, streaming services, social media, Yahoo, Youtube, Photoshop, email, text messages, video messages, GPS, drones, Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, minivans, convertibles, eco cars, electric cars, Siri, Smart homes, Smart appliances, this blog site and dozens of others, jumbo mega jets, super fast planes, skyscrapers, the London Wheel, the Twin Towers, malls, megastores, printers, camcorders, walkman's, CD players, VCR, DVD, color tv, casset players, MP3, ipads, iphones, itunes, credit cards, Barbie dolls, hula hoops, birth control pills, nonstick pans, McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, LED, solar batteries, rechargable batteries, rockets for space travel, Space Shuttle, robots, hydrogen bombs, Doppler radar, infra-red, Vaccines, velcro, mass produced clothing, online shopping, microwave ovens, remote controls, nuclear bombs and tech, drip brew coffee makers, pod single cup coffee makers, expresso, Starbucks, WalMart, calculaters, Atri, Playstation, Gameboy, Nintendo, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Star Wars, auto cameras, pocket cameras, instant picture cameras, digital cameras, lazers, onlie banking and trading, bubble wrap, Campbells canned soup, super glue, tv dinners, Sharpies, liquid paper, lava lamps, go-go boots, smiley face, computer chips, floppy disks, emojis, chewing gum, Rubric's cube, fiber optics, Kevlar, MRI, DNA tests at home, home pregnancy tests, Pepsi, bagless vaccums, The Beetles, Evis, Michael Jackson, madonna, Whitney Houston, Beyennce, Rap music, liposuction, Stealth planes, Artifical hearts, DNA fingerprints, tazers, electric razers, 3d printers...

She witnessed firsthand these events: Stock Market Crash, Great Depression, World War 2, mass killing devices (atomic bombs and guns), the rise and fall of The Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall, the 9.11 attacks, the Korean War, invasion of Afghanistan, the Falkland Islands war, a female Prime Minister, a female vice president (US), the Civil Rights movement, tv ministers esp. Billy Graham, the assassination of a US President, attacks on France civilians, the first motorway system, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, the publication of Lord of the Rings, and The Stand, Suez Canal, Gulf Wars, US adds 2 more states, England men win the World Cup...England Women win the World Cup, IRA wars, including the assassination of her cousin, the thwarted (by Princess Anne herself!) kidnapping of her daughter, the discovery of the DNA structure, men land on the moon, creation of the country of Israel, the Israeli-Arab wars, the rise of terrorists and mass civilians bombings and killings at nonwar events (concerts, tourist areas, schools, churches, malls, restaurants), Watergate, Clinton-gate, 1st ever POTUS resignation, first organ transplants, plane hijacks, 3 Mile Island disaster, Fukushima, Chernobyl, 6 of her children's weddings and 3 divorces, 6 grandchildrens' weddings & 1 divorce, the birth of the first IVF baby, World Wide pandemics in AIDS and Covid-19, finding of the underwater wreck Titantic, Space Shuttle explosion, Hubble telescope, her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees, 2012 London Olympics, and record for the longest reigning female monarch in the world.

She met these people: Elvis, the Beetles, David Bowie, the Apollo 11 astronauts, all US Presidents since Hoover (not Johnson though), 15 UK Prime Ministers, Sir Winston Churchhill, the heads of almost every government in the world; all the reigning monarchs in Europe and Asia, Frank Sinatra, Lady GaGa, Elizabeth Taylor, Julia Roberts, Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Streisand, Lucy & Desi, Meryl Streep, The Spice Girls, members of Queen, Jennifer Lopez, all the James Bond actors (Sean Conery, Pierce Bronson, Roger Moore, Daniel Craig, Timothy Dalton, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bette Midler, Hugh Jackson, Sir Elon John, Angelica Jolie, Anna Wintour, Helena Bonham Carter, David Beckham, Alan Rickman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Ellie Goulding, the cast from 'The Game of Thrones' (she sat on THE Iron throne), Gene Kelly, Harrison Ford, JK Rowling, Joan Collins, Kirk Douglas, Billy Graham, Ron Howard, Sharon Osbourne, members of the group the Black Eyed Peas, Tom Hiddleston, Micheal Sheen, Simon Cowell, Jon Bon Jovi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, Bill Gates and Paddington Bear.

And thousands of others.

She had the 'one great love', her husband Phillip, whom she met at age 13. She lost her father at age 57 to lung cancer, a man who called her his "pride". King George. She once said Ascension Day was a "celebration for all but me; it is, after all, the anniversary of the death of my beloved father."

She gave her first national speech, over the radio, when she was 14. Like thousands of children, she and her sister were evacuated to the country (Windsor castle for the princesses) to spare them from harm in the London nightly bombings from Hitler during WW2, separated from her beloved parents. Princess Elizabeth's speech was directly to these children, as one of them herself, urging them to stay strong and remember they would rebuild the country and world once the war ended. She joined the army and became a car mechanic, skills she would continue to use her entire life at age 18. At the time of her death, she was the only world leader who served in WW2, and one of its last living vets.

Married to Philip at age 21, she lived a quiet life as a navy officer's wife and loved it. She had the heart and soul of a country person, not of a monarch; she wasn't born as an heir, she never expected to be an heir. But upon her father's death, she became Queen and dedicated herself to the service of her people and her country and Commonwealth. And the world is better for it. She never complained of this heavy burden, and she never expected anyone to feel sympathy for her over being Queen or over the work she did. She simply did it.

She was 'Living History'.

Her Crowning as Queen, in 1953, was the first most watched event ever on the newly invented television, with thousands of 'street party picnics'. 32.27 million people, out of the entire 36 million population, saw her crowned. 37.5 million of 65 million watched her funeral in the UK. 4.1 billion people worldwide made her funeral the most watched broadcast event in history. 

She traveled the most of any reigning monarch, and at a time when women were NOT in charge, she ruled a nation that to this day, can't form a government without her okay. She strengthened the Commonwealth from 6 to 56 countries. She personally asked her changing of the guard troops to play the American National Anthem after the 9.11 attacks. She jumped out of a helicopter with James Bond to open the London 2012 Olympics (yes, a stunt double did, but we sure all wondered if it had really been her!). She saw the formation of the EU..and watched the UK vote to leave it. She lived through the Covid pandemic. She sat alone when her beloved husband of 73 years died, and had to limit attendance at his funeral to 30. No state funeral for this great man, her self-described 'strength and stay', and reportedly, exactly what he wanted, less than 2 months before his 100th birthday. She lost her beloved only sibling, Princess Margaret, and six months later, her mother. "Grief," she wrote to the US after the 9.11 attacks, "is the price we pay for love."

She danced with a POS Ghana ruler in 1961, a time when Americans still had laws against people of different races even touching each other. A woman of deep faith, she spoke of faith and God in every speech she ever made. She saw a world of radio give way to television; television to streaming. She saw pen and paper letters give way to email. She saw standing at the phone in one spot, to carrying a phone around the house and then, around the world. She witnessed the best and worst of mankind and the terrible, wonderful things we can do. She could tell you what the world was like in the 30s, the 40s, the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90's, the new century 2000, the 2010s, the 2020s-- three years of it. She embodied living, breathing human history.

Now, we are left to ask...How do we live in a world without The Queen? How do we go from Living History to historical mentions in textbooks and photographs? We will never see her like again. 

The Queen has died and rejoined her beloved Phillip. She finally gets to rest, after giving so much to so many. May God be with her family and friends, who knew her as Mummy, Grannie, Gan-Gan, or simply Elizabeth.

The Queen has died. Long live The King.