Farewell to a Queen
May the knights and ladies she honored bring honor to Great Britain
This ceremonial queen’s gravest duty
Was not to wave, wear gowns or crowns
To accessorize Burmese rubies,
To treat photographers to monarchic frowns
To don diamonds of South Africa, opals of Australia,
To draw lines in Palestine,
to concede Trinidad, or allocate Himalayas.
Her consecrated task was to honor the honorable
And to endure
To make an imperial retreat tolerable,
And somehow, future secure.
She stopped elevating colonial knights
Raised up Beatles, chefs, pentathletes —
Dames Judy Dench (Elizabeth I) and Maggie Smith
Sir Elton John! Sir Salman Rushdie?
Wizards, some gent styled as “the Lord Baker of Dorking”
Muggles, and even a cannibal (unforking).
Ceremonial? Perhaps.
Yet the knights of the realm when first she reigned
Sought foreign assets by which an empire reclaim.
These choices suggest an intention to avoid imperial relapse.
The knights and ladies this Queen left behind
Defend the realm by enriching British minds.
© 2022, Tom Tordillo
Those who knew Queen Elizabeth II and loved her most will pen better words to honor her life and comfort those who mourn her passing.
When she ascended, the community of British knights surrounding her had grown up riding horses, hunting foxes, exploiting colonies. From the trenches of World War 1 through battles in the skies of World War 2, they defended an empire assembled primarily through exploitation and martial prowess.
When the new queen ascended, men who made fortunes by exploiting others and heroically ordering other men to die on their behalf probably thought they could continue the same practices, garnering praise from their Queen just as countless men had done before.
They were wrong, and now, such relics are the less interesting knights of the realm of Great Britain. Instead, Queen Elizabeth II leaves behind knights like Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Elton John, Sir Rod Stewart, and Sir Van Morrison.
Such men will defend the Empire in a rather unusual manner. What sort of deranged moron would be threatened by an Elton John ‘invasion’?
As a ceremonial queen, the skillful use of ceremonies MAY shift course of a culture even if a queen lacks the power to command troops. By elevating rock stars over generals, authors over billionaires, Queen Elizabeth II tried to do what she could to propose a future empire distinct from every empire in history: an empire ‘of the mind.’
A proud punk sensibility thrives on disrupting such intellectual conceits — blaring the Sex Pistols rather than the British national “God Save the Queen.” Cute. Yet Great Britain is now part of a world where such things may exist, where royals may shrug and sniff, rather than incarcerate or decapitate those who traffic in such music.
If the Queen really was offended by such music, her conduct is instructive: ignore it publicly, and praise what she thought was better. That series of choices makes for a better Great Britain and a better world.
