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| Sunday, 7 April 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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End of a legend by Carol Aloysius The year 1940. The scene: London at the height of World War 1. The
heavily bombed capital city was posing a grave security The request, which was made to the Queen, was however firmly turned down. "The children won't leave without me. I won't leave without the King, and the King will never leave", she had said. By opting to stay in London at her husband's side during the German blitzkrieg of the British capital, Queen Elizabeth, later known as the Queen Mother, became a symbol of hope and courage to million of Britons in their darkest hour. So effective was her role in boosting the flagging morale of the British public during the war that it prompted Adolf Hitler to brand her as "Europe's most dangerous woman". The bombing of Buckingham Palace didnot sway her determination to stay with her husband. After the attack, the plucky little woman who had preferred to face death with her husband rather than run away to safety said, "At least I can now look at East End in the eye" - a phrase that added to her growing reputation as a symbol of Britain's indomitable courage and spirit of resistance to the Nazis. Brave and courageous to the extent of being called "foolhardy", the Queen Mother once again put her life at risk when she defied anti-monarchy protests and accompanied by her daughter Queen Elizabeth, paraded through Central London in an open carriage, to celebrate her one hundredth birthday. A hundred and one years old at the time of her death on Saturday, one day before Easter, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, who was born on August 4 1900, lived each of her days to the fullest. The ninth child of an ancient Scottish family of royal descent, she grew up in a privileged world at Glamis Castle, the legendary home of Macbeth. Her carefree adolescent life spent in these idyllic surroundings ended abruptly with the outbreak of World War I when Glamis Castle was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. For the first time in her life, young Elizabeth was forced to look at the raw side of life, when she witnessed the horror and brutality of the war. Yet her courage did not abandon her and she tended to the wounded soldiers housed in her home with love and concern. The most important turning point in her life came with her marriage to the second son of the king George V. In 1923, after having refused his hand twice, Elizabeth Lyons finally agreed to marry Albert, better known as Bertie, Duke of York on April 26. It is said that she was largely instrumental in helping the shy, stammering Duke come out of his shell and finally persuade him take on the role of King after his brother Edward abdicated from the throne following his marriage to American divorcee Wallis Simpson. A strong family woman, she is widely credited as the person who has kept the royal family together all these years, in the face of ridicule and severe criticism. Easily the most popular member of the Royal family, she has been variously dubbed as Britain's favourite Granny, the Queen Mother and other endearing terms by a British public which openly adored her. Incidentally, the title of` Queen Mother' was one she gave herself after her husband King George V1 died in 1952 and her daughter Elizabeth ascended the throne. It is said that to compensate for the sudden loss of an official title, she invented the title of `Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother'. After the death of her husband, the King, she left Buckingham palace for Clarence House - a more modest home, where she spent most of her remaining years, moving to different homes she owned from time to time. She also began a new life for herself. A passionate fan of horse racing, it comes as no surprise that on its busiest day of the year, the British horse racing community paid an emotional tribute to the "Lady of the Turf' as she was affectionately called for the past half a century. At Kemptom, scene of one of her greatest triumphs as an owner, the jump jockeys wore black armbands and even the race cards had a black front cover. As a further gesture of respect for their most famous patron, horse racing officials have decided to cancel all meetings on April 9 the day of the funeral. Of all her grandchildren, Prince Charles was her favourite. The bond between the King-in-waiting and his grandmother was so close that it has been said that Charles found in his grandmother the love and affection that his mother rarely showed him openly. For him, those moments spent in her company were nothing short of "magical". In a rare heart baring tribute to his beloved grandmother following her death, he said, "For me she meant everything... I have dreaded this moment... she seemed gloriously unstoppable. Ever since I was a child I adored her. She was quite simply the most magical grandmother you could possibly have and I was utterly devoted to her". The Queen Mother's peaceful passing away, barely two months after the death of her second daughter Margaret, whose funeral she attended despite protests from her doctors, has brought to an end a remarkable life that spanned two centuries. I shook hands with the Queen Mother This writer had the privilege of being able to meet and shake hands with the Queen Mother by a fortunate co-incidence. It was June 1977 and I was on my way to participate in a Caravan tour of some 16 states in the US in connection with its Bi-centennial celebrations and stopped over in London for a short visit. On my way to the BBC with a young English guide we happened to pass the Westminister Abbey where the Queen Mother was attending a Commonwealth Mother's Day service. After the service, the congregation mostly women, moved out onto the compound and lined up in the garden to wish the Queen Mother. My guide urged me to join the queue and placed me at the end of the line, at touching distance from her black Rolls Royce car. As she came up to greet me, the first thing I noticed about her was her clear glowing complexion (she would have been in her late sixties then) and her beautiful blue eyes with were the exact shade of her dress. Even the hat she wore and the veil over it was in the same shade of blue. She radiated warmth and friendliness as she clasped my hand firmly and wished me. My guide was so thrilled that I had actually shaken hands with the Queen Mother that she ran all the way to the Central Information office and wired my News Editor, Mr. Carlton Seneviratne who immediately ran the story titled "I shook hands with the Queen Mother" on the front page of the evening Observer! |
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problem for the
British Royal family. Concerned over the safety of the King, Queen and the
two little princesses, an urgent request arrived at the palace requesting
them to vacate their residence and move to a safer place.
