Thursday, September 8, 2022

RIP: Queen Elizabeth

I think I might be part of the last generation of Canadians who sang "God Save the Queen" in school. I can't be sure - the time in which the song was phased out seems to vary depending on province and community. Through my primary and elementary school years, we opened the school day singing along to "O, Canada" and "God Save the Queen" as they played over the P.A. system.

I don't think I have a good grasp of the English mindset; we Canadians are simply too far away and too different from them and I've never spent more than a day at a time visiting England. But for some reason I've always respected the Queen. My family weren't particularly Royalist, but I appreciated her portrait on the back of our coins (and took notice during my childhood when subtle changes to the portrait appeared). She frequently appeared on our stamps and, being that I'm Anglican, she frequently appeared in our prayers.

So while I'm not particularly adept in understanding the English I did enjoy having Queen Elizabeth as my monarch all the years of my life. She enjoyed a very long reign through a time of abrupt and swift changes. She was meant to be a symbol and symbols endure beyond the individual's life. Rest in peace, your highness.

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2 comments:

  1. Jane ElizabethSeptember 12, 2022 at 7:01 PM

    I wonder how someone who grew up in the Union of South Africa might feel about her. Me? I feel very little. I remember that she was reported to recoil visibly when an American woman touched her out of empathy in the 80's. Was she the very best Queen that she could be? Eh.

    There are still some queens here and there and eh, most of them seem to be erudite, educated, reasonably nice and in favor of civilizing the masses.

    So was this Elizabeth. Did she have any involvement in any major policy domestic or otherwise? Eh. Victoria kept lesbianism legal so I vote for her.

    I don't know if this blog is just for, your friends and family so I don't want to ruin it. I have a copy where I write and nobody comments and I think you are a great and intelligent writer but you are so thorough and nobody but me ever comments.

    Anyway, I love Canada and Canadians and Portuguese and Comics and OTR. I wish you would check out South African Otr because it is thrilling and they have dumped a whole slew of new old stuff on archive.org and I have been listening to it after something you referenced had some sort of link to it at the bottom. The Avengers maybe, which show Americans are clueless about.

    Best,
    Janey

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  2. Michael HoskinSeptember 16, 2022 at 3:07 PM

    Hi Jane,

    I have listened to several South African programs - the Avengers, Beyond Midnight & the Creaking Door. I found them a bit too stuffy and too interspersed with commercials (although that's typical of US radio shows from 1955-on too). The Avengers at least had the advantage of the great music themes from television.

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