Patriot Realm

Who could forget the delightful moment that Queen Elizabeth II took tea with Paddington Bear?

For myself, it was wondrous. 

After years of hearing about Me Me Again and Harry the Ginger Flop, it was so nice to stumble upon a bit of the British Queen ignoring their childish and selfish antics.

In fact, when the movie Paddington was released it made people rather surprised and, well, rather jolly gobsmacked. Our Queen took tea with a rather lovely young bear and marmalade became rather special

I love the Queen. And, no, it is not a past tense. I love her. She still proudly adorns my wall in my modest home and her portrait will be here as long as I am. 

I have been having marmalade on toast these past few days and I cannot help but applaud the joys of marmalade.  

I used to make marmalade, many years ago. The sharp taste of citrus with a shot of Jamison's Irish whiskey. It was beyond belief. I also made cumquat marmalade. 

Sadly, there are few places left that have orange trees or cumquat trees growing and the delight that Paddington Bear and our Queen enjoyed are becoming increasingly rare.

I loved the way Queen Elizabeth II was so able to enjoy the folk heroes as well as the real heroes.

 I have shed many tears and emptied a jar of marmalade these past few days.

So why am I so emotional? Why am I crying at the drop of a hat?

Why am I so crazy in love with a little woman I have never met?  Why?

The only time I ever " met " the Queen was in New Zealand in 1977. I was a young Mum with a two year old daughter and I went to the lakefront in Rotorua New Zealand to see our Sovereign Queen. 

At that time, I never really cared a great deal about the Monarchy but the idea that someone " important ": was visiting our town seemed worth the effort. I packed up my baby girl and we headed off to join the thousands of people who gathered to see this woman who appeared to be rather important. 

My father always told me that the Monarchy was the punctuation point in a sentence that would not end if politics was allowed to " get away with whatever they wanted. "  In other words, the Monarchy was the Emergency brake system,

To think, that she was never supposed to be our Queen. 

 
So off I went to see this person who was, apparently, never meant to be Queen.

I stood with thousands of others and managed to find a place right up against the barricade that had been set up. 

And she came.

This tiny little woman, full of smiles and making eye contact with so many of us.

Now, I am only 5 foot 3 and a half. Hardly statuesque.  But she seemed tiny to me. 

And she looked at me, and looked at my little girl.

I was suddenly in love, in awe and in wonder. 

And I have been ever since.

That day, at the lake front in Rotorua, a small lady changed my life.

I became a devoted fan.

 WHY?

Because she made me feel good. Her presence was comforting and reassuring. 

And I have never changed the way I feel, all these decades later.

She, Queen Elizabeth II will always be my Queen. 

And I truly hope that she is in Heaven and her Corgis Thanks to Malcolm.