Posted on 11/21/2012 4:33:31 PM PST by iowamark
They are an example to follow but also a splendid and royal rebuke to our times
Congratulations to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh who have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary today. It is a significant achievement. I don’t mean the longevity aspect which is out of their hands, a mixture of luck and good genes; I mean the example they have set the country of a faithful and enduring marriage, based on mutual affection and respect. According to the Telegraph report, Prince Philip wrote to the Queen Mother on his honeymoon, saying that his wife was “the only ‘thing’ in the world which is absolutely real to me and my ambition is to weld the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good”.
They have certainly had shocks, public and private: the general carping and sniping of republican sentiment over the decades, directed at a seemingly privileged family, out of touch with ordinary life; the collapse of three of their children’s marriages; the extraordinary – and critical – response to the death of their troubled daughter-in-law, Diana; relentless and inquisitive publicity at all times. And yet it is still obvious that, as a couple, they have not only endured but triumphed. I once tried to get my brother, who had served as an equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh for two years in his youth, to give me some inside information on “The Firm”. Quite rightly he refused; he would only vouchsafe that “they are a great team”.
Such teamwork is what a solid marriage is all about and the Duke of Edinburgh must be given credit for the part he has played. A natural leader, yet unable because of his position as consort to be the public head of his family, it is clear he has led it in private. The Queen’s words at her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2007 say it all: “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”
The Telegraph report strikes one ominous note, stating: “The average age for people getting married is now in their 30s. Coupled with that is the fact that divorce has become much easier and more commonplace since the 1960 and 70s, so the chance of anyone surpassing the Queen’s record becomes ever more unlikely.” This record might seem an anachronism in today’s society, when we have a Tory prime minister who has pledged to change the definition of marriage for good, and when marriage as it stands is disadvantaged in our tax system. However, I prefer to think it is a splendid and royal rebuke to our times, as well as a challenge to aspire to the example this good couple have shown us.
The queen and the Duke are indeed most impressive individuals.
As for their progeny...as Thumper’s mother said...
Democracy and Monarchy are BOTH Mob Rule by mobsters..
The English haven’t figured that out yet..
England will become Islamic eventually the demographics prove it....
No worries.. democracy, monarchy, and Islamic Law are all Mob Rule by mobsters..
NOTHING WILL CHANGE..
To quote Mark Steyn in Passing Parade (Mark Steyn Book Store):
". . . aggressive empathy. Their message to their Sovereign was in essence: If you can't come out and feel our pain, we'll come in and give you some of your own to feel. Through a spokesman, the Queen protested to the British people that she was not indifferent to their grief."
Hang on: She's not indifferent to their grief? The Queen, who had know Diana Spencer since was a little girl, has to prove that she grieves as much as people who have never met her?"
Such a handsome and dignified couple. How did they produce that oaf Charles?
Diana was a publicity-addicted tramp.
tramp?
Phillip has bagged a few, that is for sure
As England has slid into the sewer (abortion, Islam) the Queen hasn’t uttered a peep.
What kind of “leadership” or “example” is this?
Irrelevance is the word.
National Lampoon published a picture of the royal couple as lower class Brits at home in their messy flat at the end of the day.
The queen was wearing a housecoat and fuzzy slippers, with her hair in curlers under her crown, a cigarette dangling from her lip and a can of beer in her hand.
The unshaven Duke was asleep on the couch in front of the TV, with an open copy of the News of the World tabloid in his lap, wearing a ‘wife-beater’ t-shirt, slacks with the suspenders pulled down, torn socks.
No, the monarchy is not irrelevant. No Christian can believe that.
The Queen’s inability to impose ordered Christian decency on her realm is not her fault. She does her best within her powers, which is all God asks. It is not her fault that she inherited a protestant crown.
“The Queen, who had know Diana Spencer since was a little girl, has to prove that she grieves as much as people who have never met her?”
Diana may have been one of those most loved by those who knew her least.
The guy on her right might have had something to do with it.
Just saying!
Interesting.
Elizabeth and Phillip are, no doubt, the last of English royalty to “carry on” regardless of personal desires or conflicts. When she goes, so goes whatever devotion the British people cling to for traditional monarchy, figuratively or otherwise.
The more I read about her, the more I am convinced that she was a major drama queen all around pain-in-the-ass.
Diana’s star has faded in the years since her death. Her selfish actions made life difficult for her children and damaged the monarchy. Fortunately her two boys have turned out reasonably well.
That may well be — don’t know one way or the other — but how does that change what I said?
Be that as it may, the Queen was laden with scorn for not meeeting the “standards” of “the people”.
***
I would be willing to bet that it was the media and not the people dealing out such scorn.
does it change what you said or does it add to what you said, geez some people are so touchy
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