I never thought I'd write what follows but unfortunately it's happening.
Today, April 21, 2023, Queen Elizabeth II's 97th birthday is celebrated, the first, however, without Elizabeth II. A shiver just went through my body and my eyes are filled with tears.
I don't want to write and tell things that we all know about the eternal Queen, the woman who seemed immortal in our eyes, but who had to, however, give way and say goodbye to earthly life.
I would like to write my thoughts on this great Woman, with a capital D. Many may disagree, but as a young woman, I only drew inspiration. I was lucky enough to have 3 out of 4 grandparents, and luckily, I still enjoy the presence of grandmothers in my life. Grandmothers, more or less the same age, with the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and it is perhaps for this reason that I have so much admiration.
Surely Elizabeth enjoyed a more agitated life than my grandmothers, but the fact remains that she grew up during the Second World War and was born after the Great War. Let's talk about the generation that was forged under the bombs, invaded by saviors, men and women who were not made to give up, but to fight. Here, Elizabeth forged her character during the war by serving in the army, at a time when she didn't count the name in the registry office, because, in the end, what was really important was to survive and be able to win.
A woman with a petite figure who contained everything that grandmother Mary and mother Elizabeth had taught her: 2 strong women from whom to draw inspiration, who long before her, put their private lives aside to devote themselves solely to the monarchy , supporting their husbands. Elizabeth II, however, did not have a husband to support, she was the one who had to put everything aside to be the example that the nation had to follow; and the nation has followed, ALWAYS.
In an episode of the first season of The Crown - yes I know it's fictional, but it's to give a better idea - Queen Mary, grandmother of the new queen, writes her a letter in which she explains, without too many words, the change that would take place in his life.
“Dearest Lilibeth, I know you will be as heartbroken as I am about the passing of your dad, my dear son, but you must put those feelings aside now, for duty calls. The pain of your father's death will be felt everywhere, your people will need your strength and leadership. I have seen 3 great monarchies destroyed by their inability to separate personal matters from duty. You must not allow yourself to make such mistakes. While you mourn your father you will also have to mourn someone else, Elizabeth Mountbatten, because she has now been replaced by another person: Queen Elizabeth II. The 2 Elizabeths will always be in conflict with each other, the fact is that the crown must win. MUST ALWAYS WIN.”
And it is precisely these words, perhaps not spoken in this way, that Elizabeth will transform into her life mantra. I am young, and I have not seen the birth and development of your Majesty's reign, but I believe that you have always really won the crown. And I think that was right; What would you have done in her place?! We're all good at judging from the outside, but then no one puts themselves in each other's shoes: Elizabeth II may have been the greatest queen her people ever had, but as her grandmother said, it was the crown that had to win . Because in the end it's the crown that stays here, not the person wearing it. The latter must only protect her, protect her, put her first, above her personal interests and her passions. In a world where we complain about everything, drawing inspiration from a woman with a spine of steel that bends but doesn't break should be the starting point of a truly futile society. She, who surely privately wanted to cry, laugh and dance as she wanted, had to contain everything because in reality it wasn't her, but she represented something greater. The way she lived up to the promise she made to the people when she was a young woman is an example to me and should be to everyone. When I think of her, the novel by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello comes to mind: One, No One and One Hundred Thousand. Here Elizabeth was ultimately One, but she could be nobody and one second after turn into one hundred thousand. No one knows and will ever know who he really was - or perhaps the only one who knew was his Philip - and those grandchildren to whom he dedicated his summers at Balmoral.
In a society where there is a tendency to denounce any form of malaise, I see myself a lot in this queen, as in my home queens. Keeping pain to yourself or moments of private joy, showing only what you want to the world to prevent the world from hitting you, well it's hard work. But bite the bullet, avoid crying, making everyone believe that you're always strong is just the armor we build to avoid suffering more. What does Elizabeth II leave to our society? Great discoveries, inclusion, modernization, but also an institutional and non-institutional model to follow. A small woman (like her ancestor Vittoria, but only in stature) who, looking at her, would only want to protect her, but then in the end, you realize that it was she who protected everyone: with her shield, made up of smiles and eyes really interested in what she was approaching, a woman who agreed to everything for her loved ones (at least in public), but who underneath her only thought was: "Do they really think they are screwing me?"
No one has ever been able to screw over the national Betty, not even death. Think about it: just 2 days earlier he had nominated his new prime minister with his latest photo attached. Then the emptiness inside us. This is how I imagine the scene of Elizabeth's death: the angel of death who arrives and the queen who says to him: "Listen, I'm not done here yet. Give me a few days and then come back.” And the angel of death must have taken it literally.
She wonders if he said to her: "Betty are you ready to be reunited with Philip, or do you want to spend more time with your family and your people?" But Elizabeth had finished her job, that of a lifetime, for which there are no holidays or pensions. Her life had become one with the crown and she had taken her leave in the best possible way, in her style, working, even on the 30 day "holidays", there in her Balmoral, where she could to simply be Lilibeth.
Happy birthday Lilibeth (the original) and thank you for making us understand that sometimes silence is the best weapon, for making us spectators of her masterful life, which I don't think will have rivals, and thank you for teaching us that waiting it is the greatest pleasure, because you can enjoy your victories even more, and she, Your Majesty, of victories, in her long life she had many.
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