With the death of our Queen, so much has changed. Her passing will affect each of us in different ways but for us all, a major “human reference point”, as Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, put it in his tribute the day after her death. In her speech, the new Prime Minister called her our “rock”, the “nation’s greatest diplomat” and “one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.” Their tributes were just two of the many MPs who gave a tribute to the Queen, when the arranged business for the day in the House of Commons was suspended and the time freed between midday and 10pm for the House to share their tributes to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll.

Chris and I and a friend who was visiting from the United States spent much of Thursday afternoon glued to the television, watching the unfolding final hours of the Queen’s earthly life. It was clear she was close to death but the announcement, when it came around 6pm that evening, felt like a strange scene from a badly scripted drama. It still doesn’t feel quite real.

Over the coming days and weeks we will, no doubt, be treated to a number of documentaries and commentaries about the Queen’s life and achievements. As the longest serving British monarch who reigned for 70 years, there is much to say. I will not attempt to sum up her record-breaking accomplishments in these few minutes, instead, I would like to explain a little of what she means to me and what I found so inspiring about her.

I first sang God Save the Queen when I was about eight years old, after my family had moved to the Bahamas which was, at that time, still under the Crown. I learned about money in pounds, shillings and pence: my favourite coin was the little octagonal thruppence. Her silhouette was on the stamps on our letters.

Fast forward about fifteen years, and Chris and I were married and setting up home here in England. When America changed the rules and allowed US citizens to become dual citizens with certain countries, I became a British subject, swearing my loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen. Throughout my life here, I have been conscious of her presence, whether seen – in one of her brightly coloured outfits – or unseen, she was just always ‘there’.

I had the privilege of meeting her several times and observing her up close, watching her navigate a room full of people: gracious, attentive, animated. When I was awarded the honour of being made a Commander of the British Empire, the formal citation begins, “Elizabeth the Second, by the grace of God…” By the grace of God. By the grace of God she reigned with the exemplary sense of duty, faithfulness and humility. Her Christmas broadcasts became increasingly overt about her Christian faith. She was a lifelong churchgoer and took a great and personal interest in many of the clergy she met. She lived through the country’s and all her family’s turbulent times with great dignity. It is extraordinary to know that two days before she died, she fulfilled her last public duty by meeting with both the outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers.

At about the time the Queen died, there were rainbows over both Buckingham and Windsor Castles: even the changeable English weather managing to give a fitting tribute to a woman who has lived as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ for all her long life. 

Rev’d Christina Rees