My Queen has a King

On By janesforeverIn Christian, Faith

In December 1939, Britain had been at war with Germany for 3 months. Only 21 years after the end of the First World war, no one needed to be reminded of the brutal reality and cost of conflict.

At home in London a 13 year-old girl handed her Father the following poem as she thought it would help him in his work:

“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year

Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied,

“Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light,

and safer than a known way”

Minnie Louise Haskins

The girl was Princess Elizabeth and her father King George VI, he read the poem in his Christmas address and it gave hope and comfort to millions.

I grew up in South West London in the 1980s, my family were not big fans of the monarchy and to me the Queen was someone who was always there. Her face is on our money, her initials on our postboxes, photos of her on the News or in the newspapers.

I love the story of the BFG by Roald Dahl. I think as a little girl I imagined that if I ever came across a big unsolvable problem in the world, I would climb into a Giants ear and go and visit the Queen, who would of course, be able to sort it out…

Now as a mum I am reading those stories to my children. We took the children on a trip round London to visit all the sites mentioned in Paddington Bear – we watched the Changing  of the Guard and went to Buckingham Palace (the Royal standard was not flying – the Queen was not at home.)

I now realise that I can tell you where I was for most Royal events in my life time:

I was at a street party with neighbours for Andrew and Fergie’s wedding

I was on Cockermouth high street, when someone told us Princess Beatrice had been born.

I was on the Island of Kos with friends when Princess Diana was killed and watched her funeral from a small old TV in a Greek Taverna.

In 2002 I arrived in Australia for my medical elective. A little jet lagged I was given change in a shop and in my surprise I blurted out:

“oh, look, you have our Queen on your money.”

The Australian shop keeper did not look impressed

Blushing ( and feeling foolish ) I added

“oh, yes she is your Queen too.”

A few days later at church an Australian friend came up to us looking crest fallen to tell us that the Queen Mother had died. People treated us as if we had lost a grand parent.

I think from that moment on my view of the monarchy changed. It was a strange experience watching the funeral procession taking place in my home town of London, through the eyes of an Australian broadcaster. It struck me that the Queen mother had been alive for half the time that Australia had existed as the country we know today.

In recent years I have discovered new things about the Queen:

The Queen is a peacemaker.

The Queen is an extremely hardworking, faithful servant of our country.

The Queen has a brilliant sense of humour. ( If I am feeling down I love to watch the You tube clip of the Queen at the London Olympic opening ceremony, if you have never seen this and you need to laugh, I suggest you watch it here.)

More importantly I discovered that the Queen has a King.

In her 2002 Christmas broadcast in she said:

I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God.. I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.

I no longer believe in giants who will carry me to the Queen to solve big unfixable problems; however I do believe that my Queen will lift the worlds many problems to her King (and mine) in prayer. And I am very grateful.

Happy 90th Birthday Your Majesty

 

I initially was inspired to share a poem by Good, Beautiful and True who has started Poetry Tea Tuesdays. Click here for more info.

Photo: The Royal Household http://www.royal.uk

For more information about the Queen’s faith: The Servant Queen and the King she serves published by The Bible Society and LICC

 

 

21 thoughts on “My Queen has a King”

  1. Good, beautiful and true

    I love that “Poetry Tea Tuesdays” inspired you to share this poem. I would love to use it this Tuesday at our tea time:) If you ever have a poetry tea with your kids please send me a picture!!!!

    Your post was a refreshing take on the Queen. Over here we mostly see Queen Elizabeth in conjunction with Will and Kate, although she was recently on the cover of Vanity Fair in honor of her birthday I think. It is nice to see her as more of a person in her own right.

    I saw the movie “King’s Speech” a few years ago. It was very powerful and a wonderful glimpse into the time of history you were mentioning.

    Many blessings to you and yours.

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    1. You are very welcome! I would be honoured if you would use it xx
      I love the movie the King’s speech, I think it is very moving. I find it amazing to think how much history the Queen has lived through. And that she was only 13 when she suggested this poem to her father. ..I only realised recently that she has a personal faith.

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      1. Good, beautiful and true

        I didn’t know that either. I will share that with the kids as well:) I always love to find beacons of hope and light shining around the world.

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    2. Good, beautiful and true

      p.s. I have never read the BFG, but my youngest girl is currently reading it. Maybe I will have to sneak a peak and see what it is about:)

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        1. Good, beautiful and true

          When I read your post to your kids and said the line about how you love the BFG, my 9 year old said, “I love that book too.” So I have read it over the past few nights and it is truly delightful.

          Also, the Minnie Louise Haskins poem showed up as a chaper header in a book I am reading. Sometimes, when God has something for us, He just keeps bringing it back into our lives. So thank you again for bringing the beautiful testimony of the Queen’s faith and this beautiful poem into my life!

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          1. It is lovely to hear this. Thank you for your encouragement. I lent my book about about the Queen and her faith to someone who works for me. As far a I know she is not a believer, but she said she loved reading more about the Queen and her faith xx

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  3. Good, beautiful and true

    Just tried to watch the clip, but said it wasn’t authorized to play in the U.S. So googled it with the kids, but not sure we found the same video. Was the funny part the parachute?

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    1. Oh what a shame. It is on you tube and is a short video made for the Olympic opening ceremony by the BBC called Happy and Glorious. It features the Queen, James Bond the corgis and her appearing to jump out of a parachute …

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      1. Good, beautiful and true

        Yep…I think it was the same one. Lots of fun. We can’t do our tea tomorrow due to schedule conflicts. So I took all 4 kids out to an “English Tea” today at a tea shop. I read your post out loud to them and had to keep pausing because I was starting to tear up. I didn’t expect to get emotional but I totally did. So lovely. Thanks for helping us to have a wonderful afternoon.
        I had to field lots of questions about what a queen mother is, why there is currently a queen and not a king, who will be the next queen and king….
        Look for a link back to you in tomorrow’s post:)

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  4. Good, beautiful and true

    Reblogged this on good, beautiful and true and commented:
    Last week, I was so touched when I read Jane’s post, inspired by “Poetry Tea Tuesday”. This week my family was not able to hold a Tuesday tea, so I treated the children to a Monday afternoon tea at a local English Garden tea shop. My 16 year old son was suitably mortified:) My 3 girls enjoyed it, especially the younger 2. I read Jane’s post aloud to them and found myself moved to tears by the heartfelt emotion. I hope you enjoy her writing as much as I do!

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    1. Thank you very much. I am so glad you got to have afternoon English tea!! I don’t know if you saw any footage from the UK this weekend – it poured with rain in many places….but we still drank tea and held street parties ( ours was indoors). I have had several conversations with friends about the Queen and her faith. We all feel encouraged by it. Sending best wishes to you and you family xx

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      1. Good, beautiful and true

        I just googled about the celebrations in the UK this weekend. It looks so fun! Having a leader who prays and loves the Lord is such a blessing. If you have been following American politics at all, you can probably tell we are pretty far from that…

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  5. I so enjoyed reading this from the eyes of an American to the soul of an English(wo)man. When you were not on your native soil when events happened, it put great heart into your words. This is a wonderful post. Thank you! On a side note, please continue to read Paddington Bear and Roald Dahl. Great authors and stories. Do you know the new book, “Finding Winnie” by Sophie Blackall? It is the true story of Winnie the Pooh. Caldecott Winner. Ever Brit needs to read this wonderful book. Can you tell I’m a teacher? -Jennie-

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    1. Hi Jennie, thank you for your kind comment. I am so glad you enjoyed my post. I will find that new story and read it. Did you know that one of the Winnie the Poh books was dedicated to the Queen – when she was still Princess Elizabeth ?
      Love Jane xx

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