Farewell Elizabeth

                               Farewell and Adieu, Queen Elizabeth

       As I watched several hours of Queen Elizabeth’s State Funeral this morning, I was taken by the full panoply of Britain’s magnificent history. Story Book soldiers, in red tunics and balaclava helmets. were introduced during the Crimean War. Memory flashes of Tennyson’s stirring “Charge of the Light Brigade” flashed through my consciousness.

         West Minster Abbey, with the full range of British ceremonies, for hundreds of years, reminded everyone that the Royals have been around for a while. The Anglican Church, a legacy of Henry VIII, glistened in all its ceremonial splendor.

Wellington’s Arch, a symbol of victory over a rampaging Napoleon, glistened in the morning air. Britain has been involved in a few scraps over the years and came out well on the other side of all of them.

         The diamond tiara, rod and scepter served as symbols of eras when British Royalty had been more than just Parliamentary advisers. They had ruled the land. English Common Law, the root of our American system of Law and Jurisprudence, had developed under their careful tutelage.

         And then, there was Buckingham Palace, seat and hub of the British Monarchy. I had stood outside those gates once and watched the ceremonial changing of the guard. Now today, it was another ceremonial changing of the guard. Good Queen Elizabeth, a legend like many of her ancestors, was passing the orb and scepter to Charles, her son. It was a lengthy and durable chain of government stability, that stretched all of the way back to William the Conqueror in 1066. Few nations can claim such admirable stability.

       Her final ceremony and official interment, in St. George's Chapel in Windsor, was accompanied by the mournful wailing of a single piper. The Choir and funeral attendees sang "God Save Our Queen." It was an elgant and touching denouement to all that Elizabeth represented.

        In the months and years ahead, Queen Elizabeth will not be forgotten. Rather, the reputation of her decency and admirable advice to Parliament, during any number of crises, will be both buffed and enhanced. Like the first Elizabeth, her name will resonate throughout the coming decades and be a model for all of those who come after her.

         Farewell and adieu, Good Elizabeth. Great Britain is a better place for your considerable skills and careful advice.

                                      -30-

                                 (386 words)

                              Joseph Xavier Martin