Seems all Great Britain and large swaths of the Commonwealth are turning themselves inside out. All to honor, to celebrate over a four-day period, the Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, who has sat on the throne 70 years.
But what exactly is she, this long-lived and long-reigning Queen? Is she a leader? Or a figurehead? Or a symbol of something, maybe a people, or a country, or a memory of times past when Britain was an empire, a great empire, that at its peak ruled 25 % of the earth’s surface and all the world’s waves.
Thing is she might be a figurehead, and she might be a symbol. And for that matter she might be, merely, a celebrity. But she is not just any one of these. She is not just even all of them. She is also a leader. She is a leader who has great throngs of followers, many of whom are strongly tied to her emotionally, psychologically, arguably even spiritually.
For of all the different kinds of leaders, the Queen most closely resembles a religious one. She has remained remote, almost other worldly. She has been private and, especially given the length of her time in public life, said little. She has never issued an order or initiated an obviously new idea. She has never seemed to want to run anything or manage anyone. Moreover, she has never tried in any obvious way to exercise any power, or even in any perceptible way to exert any influence. Mostly she just was, still is.
Elizabeth II does occupy a position of authority. That’s evident in the pomp and circumstance; in the crowns that sit sometimes on her head; in the multiple castles she owns and in which she continues still to dwell. But compared with times past her authority is greatly diminished. Older generations might still be intimidated or impressed by the Queen’s position, but younger ones mostly are not. They are waving flags this weekend not because of Elizabeth’s position but because of her persona.
When she dies there will be genuine mourning. To many members of the British public her death will feel personal. But her loss will be more than that. For the Queen has been source of stability – in Great Britain, but not only in Great Britain – that in this day and age will be difficult, maybe even impossible ever to replace.