Through 95 years of life, the Queen has stayed true to her pledge and devoted to our country

The Queen turns 95 today. It’s not exactly been the best of times for Her Majesty. Losing her beloved husband of 73 years Philip in the middle of a pandemic and watching her family descend into EastEnders levels of public drama can’t be easy but she is a woman designed to weather the greatest of storms with aplomb. I love the Queen, even though I’m a brown Leftie woman and probably shouldn’t. Pray for my mentions.

And it wasn’t just because of Claire Foy’s glittering blue eyes and steely demeanour in The Crown. I was an early adopter thanks to Spitting Image, which was my favourite television show growing up as it combined my two great loves — politics and comedy. I roared at how she was portrayed as this all powerful but mischievous matriarch of our nation.

It’s telling that much of my childhood was under the reign of the Queen, Margaret Thatcher and my mum. I thought women ruled the world until I grew up. Being the daughter of Indian immigrant parents, the Queen had a strong physical presence in our home with her face on commemorative bone china plates and cups. My parents wanted them ready in case she ever popped round.

But it was as I got older that I found myself admiring her resilience, strength, that much talked about sense of duty but also her intelligence and work ethic. I get the unease at having a family which sits on the top of our class system and enjoys great wealth and privilege through the accident of birth — but she, more than anyone else in the royal family, has earned her keep. She works incredibly hard.

We think of the royal family having a jolly nice time like Princess Margaret flouncing about at the start of The Crown, but the reality is more like being a government minister. The Queen will have spent most of her adult life with a punishing schedule of visits and events which need to be prepped for and executed with charm and skill. She also needs to stay on top of politics and the big issues of the day and has a red box of work like a Cabinet minister which needs to be attended to. And she can’t ever leave office. This is a job for life.

But she knew that 74 years ago when, on her 21st birthday, she made a remarkable and moving speech from Cape Town in which she pledged her life to serving the country and Commonwealth. The most famous line read: “My whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family.” It was an oath to public service to which she stayed true and has honoured for more than seven decades through war, peace, huge social, political and technological change and now a global pandemic. Whatever your view on the concept or future of the monarchy, we are lucky to have her. In her own words, she is our “strength and stay”. Happy birthday, Ma’am.

Last night’s verdict, finding Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd, was a relief, but also a reminder of just how damaged race relations are in America — especially between people of colour and the police. But let’s hope this is the start of change and thank God Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are in leadership now. They understand structural racism and are not in denial unlike some of our politicians here.

As Martin Luther King’s daughter tweeted: “I can now take a breath. The moral arc of the universe is long but today it bent toward justice.”

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