King II of Great Britain died. Queen Elizabeth at the age of 96, the royal family announced. In the early afternoon, the monarch's state of health was described as worrisome by his doctors, who placed him under observation in the castle in Scotland, where he left in the late afternoon surrounded by his family. Shortly after the news published last night, the Hungarian newspaper praised the queen, who reigned for 70 years, in the following article.
"I promise before all of you that I will devote my whole life, be it short or long, to your service..."
In her radio address broadcast live from Cape Town, South Africa on April 21, 1947, addressed to the residents of the British Commonwealth and broadcast worldwide, Elizabeth, who was still "only" the heir to the throne, made a declaration of faith that - we can safely say - she kept throughout her life.
Erzsébet - that is, her full birth name is Mária Erzsébet Alexandra - was born on April 21, 1926 in London. The monarch, who was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, is the Queen of the United Kingdom and fourteen other Commonwealth states, as well as the head of the Church of England.
During the reign of George V, Elizabeth's grandfather was third in the line of succession to the throne, after her uncle Eduard and her father. Although his birth interested British citizens, it was not celebrated like an heir to the throne. When his grandfather died in 1936, VIII. Prince David of Wales, Elizabeth's father's older brother, was named Eduárd, so he came second in the order after his father. In the same year VIII. Eduárd resigned in order to marry American citizen and divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Thus, Elizabeth's father became the ruler, and he became the heir to the throne.
Zsigmond Széchenyi describes in one of his books that during his last trips to Africa, he once stayed in the same hotel where, in early February 1952, Elizabeth - who at night still bowed her head to sleep as the heir to the throne, but in the morning walked out the door of her room, which could hardly be called classy, as the ruler of a world empire.
Source: wikipedia
We can honestly say that this simplicity actually accompanied the queen throughout her life. Almost everywhere he traveled, people everywhere welcomed him with enthusiasm - and perhaps even more importantly, with visibly sincere love.
Erzsébet was the first to introduce the so-called city walk during her travels abroad, which also gave her the opportunity to meet and talk with many people. In those days, he made an unusual visit to divided Berlin and West Germany, and also visited the wall dividing the capital.
The monarch made history when, as the head of the Anglican Church, he personally received King II, who was visiting his country, at Buckingham Palace in 1982. Pope John Paul. And his visits to the states of the former Eastern Bloc also stand out. Its stops were Budapest (1993), Russia (1994), Warsaw (1996) and Prague (1996).
But the fact that Nelson Mandela and the Queen visited each other in 1995 and 1996 also meant a lot in his favorable opinion. The photos taken at that time bear the marks of sincere, mutual and deep respect.
II., who gave birth to four children, cannot be kept quiet. During Elizabeth's reign, the British royal family experienced many crises, but the support for the institution of the monarchy and her personal popularity remained at a consistently high level.
Let's say goodbye II. From Erzsébet - who really set an example with her whole life - with the closing sentences of the program broadcast from Cape Town, be it a citizen of the United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth or any state. The following sentence from his radio speech is also worth highlighting, and with this our editors say goodbye to the British monarch:
"There is a motto that many of my ancestors have adhered to, a noble phrase: 'I serve.' This word gave inspiration and direction to many previous holders of the throne. And I can't do it any other way than they do."
Source: Magyar Hírlap
Featured image: Peter Nicholls/Pool/AFP
