I've been job hunting. I've come to realize lots of jobs may look glamorous on the surface, say for instance being the queen of England. But what I've learned from the Queen is now it's more important than ever when so many of us fear we'll never be able to retire, you've just got to look carefully at the retirement benefits before signing on to any job. Beware of jobs where you have to, oh I don't know, swear loyalty to the people of the crown for the rest of your life?
Earlier this year, I watched a film on public television, a documentary made on Coronation Day in England on June 2, 1953. As I watched the film that was made so everyone in Britain could see the coronation up close and personal, I got goose bumps. And they say the royals are cold and uncaring. I think it was pretty generous of Elizabeth to allow all those cameras and mikes hanging over her while she got crowned.
The about to be crowned queen looked cool, calm, and collected even with the entire nation looking on. When I remembered she'd been groomed from infancy for that very day, it made more sense she knew just what to do. But gosh, she was only twenty seven. She was married, had a couple of kids already, and was assuming the throne of England. What was I doing when I was twenty seven? Never mind.
The coronation, it turns out, is part civil ceremony, part church service. That was news to me. Coronations are held in Westminster Abbey. There's a lot of moving around and saying stuff about loyalty to England while your ladies in waiting carry your super heavy robe around behind you, and then there's some communion in there, and some more walking around, taking off robes, putting on other robes, taking off your every day crown, accepting the scepter and orb, stuff like that, and then the actual putting on of the crown with all the jewels and fur and stuff, then sitting down on the throne, some guys with a canopy of purity or something, then some more walking around, some trumpets, and then it's done. I liked the part where Prince Phillip, the queen's ":Liege, man of life and limb" knelt down and swore his loyalty and service to her forever. I think she liked that part too.
After the coronation, the royal family processed very slowly out of the church, the queen, her sister princess Margaret, the queen mother, all with long robes held up by ladies in waiting. The place was packed and the crowd was solemn. As they exited, each got into a horse drawn carriage for the parade through the streets of London. Hundreds of thousands of onlookers lined the streets. Every branch of the British military was represented by marching troops and military bands who led off the parade with much pageantry. There was lots of red and gold.
The troops and bands included Brits, Scots, Canadians, Australians, even the ":Colonial Troops". The bands played songs from each of their different homelands. There were many royals and dignitaries in horse drawn carriages and chauffeured cars. It was spectacular. All during the parade, it was raining pretty hard, but everyone just kept smiling and waving, especially the ones inside the carriages and cars.
After the parade, as her majesty and the rest of the royal family stood on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to greet the masses below, I noticed little Prince Charles, not quite five, tentatively waving, and then he did something that might make me have to forgive the whole Camilla thing. He leaned over to his little sister, Princess Anne, and showed her how to wave to the crowd. He looked so sweet and innocent in that moment. And that got me thinking about Prince Charles and all the grief he's caused his poor mum since then.
And that's when it struck me. All us baby boomers who are moaning about not being able to retire because of the crash of 2009 should take a cue from HRH. Buck up and quit complaining. Even the queen hasn't been able to retire, in large part because of that little rascal on the balcony. I take it back, I don't forgive the whole Camilla thing. As far as I know, she hasn't even had a day off. Yeah, there's all that walking around the countryside at Balmoral and everything, but you can't really take a day off from being Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth is eighty three, and she just keeps on going, even though I'm sure the thought of retirement must, at some point, have crossed her mind.
At the very end of the film, Royal Air Force jets fly over in formation, spelling out E. R. in the sky for Elizabeth Regina. That was impressive. The new Queen was really smiling then. My dad was in the R.A.F., so that brought a tear to my eye for sure.
So now, as I continue my job hunt, I'll be thinking of the Queen and holding my head a little higher, knowing the leader of my homeland has continued working into her eighties. I'm even thinking of starting a matching hat and handbag collection. Well, maybe I won't go that far, but watching the film of the coronation from all those years ago made me realize the Queen, even with her faults now all too familiar to the world, is a pretty cool role model. She makes me proud to be a Brit.
© M.E. Rollins
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