Power of silence: Queen Elizabeth II’s reticence stood her and her country in good stead in times of tumult and change – The Indian Express

At several points during the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II which ended with her death on September 8 the very institution of the Crown was brought into question. It was criticised by the Right for presiding over the end of Empire. For progressives in Britain and beyond, it was the ultimate symbol of aristocracy and unearned privilege; the tentpole that held up a class structure that was obsolete and obscene. Britains longest-serving monarch transcended the limitations of her office by staying true to the best principles of being the constitutional head of a democratic state. In doing so, she ensured that the Crown not only survived the post-War churn but also continued to be a steady hand, a sort of over-arching spirit of a nation, through the tectonic shifts in politics and society for the better part of a century.

On June 2, 1952, when Elizabeth unexpectedly ascended to the throne, the jewel of the empire had already conducted its first general election. Over the next few years, as the head of a diminished Commonwealth, she was witness to a wave of decolonisation. Workers rights, European unity, emerging from war-time frugality, the sexual and social liberation of the 1960s through fraught times in politics and society, the Queen maintained a studied neutrality. Today, in an age of constant opinions, social media rants and virtue signalling, the power of that silence can easily be underestimated. Yet, it is that reticence that gave the head of the British state and the Church of England the ability to remain the most prominent signifier of nationhood as the UK became increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse. At times, especially during family dramas and tragedies the controversial love life of her sister Princess Margaret, the tragic death of Diana, the politically-incorrect gaffes by her consort, the departure of Meghan Markle and Harry that silence dented her image. In the larger reckoning, though, it kept her above the fray.

In ways subtle and grand, from her face on currency notes to the warm Christmas address, the Queen has been a fixture in the lives of her countrys people. By the sheer dint of her longevity, she is also a global figure. In a new period of uncertainty in the UK, from the fallout of the Ukraine crisis to the strained relationship with Europe, most people of that country are bound to miss the only monarch they have ever known.

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Power of silence: Queen Elizabeth II's reticence stood her and her country in good stead in times of tumult and change - The Indian Express