DESPITE reports of an Islamic State plot to blow her up, no one doubted that the Queen would show up at a memorial service in central London this month to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan in World War II.
Stoic and unflinching, Her Majesty admirably embodies the notions of duty, honour and sacrifice from a bygone era.
Now aged in her 90th year, she will become the longest-serving British monarch in history next month, and no King or Queen has served her subjects more loyally.
Even through the humiliating public soap operas of her children’s chaotic marriages, her “annus horribilis”, and the tragedy of her troubled daughter-in-law Diana’s death in a Paris car crash, the Queen has maintained the dignity of the crown, and the stiff upper lip of the Blitz.
Born in 1926, she represents a generation which shaped our world for the better. While everything else has changed beyond recognition, she remains the one constant.
And, after 63 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II shows no sign of wanting to abdicate, which is just as well for the future of the monarchy, and an ongoing heartache for Australia’s republicans.
She has said the job is for life and, more than anyone, she knows the flaws of the putative heir, her self-centred eldest son Charles, 66, and the reasons for his relative unpopularity, especially in far-flung reaches of the Commonwealth.
At the time of the constitutional convention 17 years ago, the affection which most Australians have for the Queen kept republican wolves from the door. Charles, on the other hand, would be far easier to cast aside than either his mother or his son, William, 33.
Of course the monarchy is more than the person who sits on the throne, but in this era of personality politics, Charles’ insecurities and wretched betrayals of his late wife Diana make him difficult to embrace.
The Queen on the other hand, while appearing cold and remote, has been on the throne so long that her very lack of visible emotion has become an asset.
Despite a lifetime of constant scrutiny, she remains enigmatic and unknowable. No opportunity there for contempt born of over familiarity. Instead, she engenders affection and respect.
Strangely, a word to describe her is unpretentious. The Queen appears more at home in a drab scarf walking her corgis in the rain than wearing a tiara at a state dinner.
THE QUEEN THROUGH THE DECADES:
CHILDHOOD: FROM PRINCESS TO RECORD-BREAKING MONARCH
1950s: TRANSFORMATION FROM PRINCESS TO RULING MONARCH
1960s: QUEEN AND ROYAL FAMILY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
1970s: QUEEN ELIZABETH II BECOME REGULAR VISITOR TO AUSTRALIA
1980s: PRINCE CHARLES AND DIANA’S ‘WEDDING OF THE CENTURY’
1990s: DARK DECADE AS PRINCESS DIANA DIES AND WINDSOR BURNS
2000s: THE QUEEN CELEBRATES HER GOLDEN JUBILEE
2010s: THE QUEEN’S ‘FAREWELL TOUR’ OF AUSTRALIA
Even when she meets Australian journalists, she is down to earth and humorous.
An avid horse-breeder, she’s also quite tech savvy, as we learn in a new biography by Ingrid Seward, having become a proficient internet surfer, with her own BlackBerry smartphone and an iPad.
A working mother before it was fashionable, she is known for her unwavering Christian faith, punctuality, orderliness and work ethic.
She reportedly has acknowledged that she should have spent more time with Charles when he was an emotionally needy child, instead of delegating his upbringing to nannies and her own mother, while she worked.
PICTURE GALLERY: QUEEN ELIZABETH II’S FASHION OVER THE YEARS
GOVERNOR-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE PAYS TRIBUTE TO QUEEN
FORMER PM JOHN HOWARD HONOURS THE QUEEN
Perhaps, also, he sensed there was no room in her heart for anyone but the love of her life, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
It is through their almost 68-year marriage that you get a glimpse of the Queen as a woman.
It may be hard to see in the wizened geriatrics of today, but Elizabeth and Philip were the golden couple of the 1940s — lithe and beautiful and very much in love, with an easy rapport that had a very modern equilibrium.
They remain in every sense a team of two.
Charles, on the other hand, is a slow learner, who took half a lifetime finally to achieve a happy union, with the mistress who had caused Diana so much pain, Camilla Parker-Bowles.
If the Queen lives another decade, as her own mother did, then Charles will be 76 if he is crowned King, hardly an age to learn a new job, or inject fresh vigour into the monarchy.
His mother took the throne upon the death of her beloved father in 1952 at the tender age of 25, with two children. She grew as she laboured to learn how to carry such a burden of responsibility.
But Prince William, now a steady 33-year-old, is the perfect age to ascend. If the crown were to skip a generation, he would be young enough to breathe new life into the monarchy, but old enough to have developed wisdom.
For one thing, he has already shown better judgment than his father in the most important decision of his life — choosing a wife. Kate Middleton is no less admirable as a future Queen than Elizabeth II herself.
So let us celebrate the Queen’s long reign and pay tribute to the indomitable character of a woman before her time, as well as to the husband who has been by her side all the way.
But when her reign is over, let us also acknowledge that William and Kate are the successors most worthy, and leave Charles to play the role of doting grandpa.
Unless you are a republican, of course, in which case you should be barracking for King Charles.
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Here’s what you can expect with tomorrow’s Parramatta weather
As summer moves towards autumn what can locals expect tomorrow? We have the latest word from the Weather Bureau.
Here’s what you can expect with tomorrow’s Parramatta weather
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