60 years on the throne

"Yes, it protects our laws." The Queen of Great Britain Elizabeth II celebrated 60 years from the date of ascent of the throne. Now the subjects of Her Majesty have been reminded of the “diamond” date of the gun salute, the anniversary postage stamps entered on sale, and the new documentary of the BBC “Diamond Queen” (The Diamond Queen). The main celebrations will be held in the summer - the official coronation of the heiress of the Windsor dynasty took place in early June 1953

Your chosen gifts
Painty pour on her;
Yes, she reigns for a long time.
Yes, it protects our laws,
And yes, an occasion will always grant us
Sing with your heart and out loud:
God, keep the queen.

From the national anthem

Everyone is singing around, including her husband, children and grandchildren, if they are with her, and this 85-year-old lady is silent. So it is supposed to be according to the protocol. After all, these words are addressed to her. And only when the melody of the national anthem, its Majesty Elizabeth II, the mercy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its other kingdoms and territories, the head of the Commonwealth, the defender of faith, can allow himself to smile.

A picture from the wedding of Prince George, the Duke of Kent (the third on the right) and Marina, the Princess of Greek and Danish. They stand (from left to right): King George V, Catherine, Greek Princess; From right to left: Nikolai, Greek Prince, Queen Mary. A small Elizabeth (sitting on the floor on the left) was at this wedding a bride’s girlfriend. 1934 She herself sang the anthem for the first 26 years of her life. Only then in the text was another word - “king” instead of “queen”. On February 6, 1952, a phone call woke her. It was then that she first heard the respectful addressed to her: "Your Majesty." The death of his father, King George VI, at the age of only 59 years old was found by his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth in Kenya, where she and her husband Prince Philip stopped on the way to Australia. The death of his father was unexpected. The young Elizabeth could not assume that the load of one of the most difficult professions in this rapidly changing world would fall on her shoulders - to work as a symbol of the nation, its history, traditions, knowledge and values.

Princess Elizabeth (in the center of the picture) on the day of her 18th anniversary with his parents. 1944. The era, which was waiting for Elizabeth II ahead, contained the collapse of the British Empire and the creation of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Cold War and the revolution of morals, the terror of the Irish Republican Army, which cost her beloved uncle, Admiral Lord Mountbatten, and market reforms Margaret Thatcher. And there were numerous military conflicts and the Beatles, the scandalous personal life of her children and the happiness of seeing the older grandchildren who are growing up and masculine, the appearance of the Internet and the death of Princess Diana ... There is every reason to believe that some of the Majesty did not like her. But all these years she sacredly observed the golden rule of constitutional monarchs - to reign, but not to rule.

London, Westminster Abbey. The moment of coronation: Elizabeth II (on the throne) takes an oath of allegiance from the spouse, Duke of Edinburgh (in the mantle). On June 2, 1953, the Queen is the Supreme Commander -in -Chief, soldiers and officers swear to her, but she cannot order any of them to take weapons and set off on a campaign.

Together with the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh during a visit to Canada. 1957 her portrait is on all coins and banknotes, but the monarch has no influence on the head of the Bank of England.

She signs laws, but she herself cannot even offer to change the rules of parking in London.

Elizabeth II is regularly informed about everything by the Prime Minister and the head of the special services, the speaker of the parliament and the chief of the civil service (a kind of main civil servant of the kingdom), but it does not speak out in public on political topics and never gives an interview.

In the circle of family and ... beloved dog of the breed of Corgi. The picture is taken in Windsor. 1968 „

Scrupulous observance of laws, fidelity to duty, moral intelligibility and the ability to not give free rein to anger and addiction in the most difficult circumstances turned Elizabeth II into one of the most authoritative and respected figures not only of Great Britain, but perhaps the world

"

With Princess Diana and Prince Charles. 1982

On an equestrian walk with her daughter, Princess Anna. 2002

Nevertheless, an incredible moral power is laid in this apparent impotence. Because scrupulous compliance with laws, fidelity to duty, moral intelligibility and the ability to not give free rein to anger and addiction in the most difficult circumstances turned Elizabeth II into one of the most authoritative and respected figures not only of the UK, but perhaps the world. Even the British Republicans, who consider the monarchy to be expensive archaism, inappropriate in the era of universal equality, invariably respectfully speak of it. The United Kingdom has no written constitution. It is replaced by a constantly growing and changing set of laws and precedents. Queen is their main guarantor. “You see,” once one colleague from the BBC told the author, where rather left-wing moods reign and many people like to brow with republican views, “the monarch is our main guarantee from the arbitrariness of politicians. And the queen is the impeccability itself. You can forgive a lot for this. ”

Three generations of the royal family: Charles, Prince of Wales (son), Prince William (grandson), Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (husband). The picture of 2003 Elizabeth II set an incredibly high level of public ministry for her heirs, the future kings - the son, Prince of the Wales Charles, and the grandson, the Duke of Cambridge William (in the Germanized pre -revolutionary and Soviet tradition of pronunciation - the future kings of Charles III and William V). They will always be compared with their mother and grandmother, so their reign will not be the simplest. But this is someday in the future. In the meantime, the drum fraction, the first chord - and everyone sing "God, keep the queen" sounds again. And only this elderly woman in an unchanged elegant hat is silent, looking at her so long and such unique life with a mental gaze.

On the day of the 60th anniversary on the throne, Elizabeth II visited the kindergarten in Dersintham, East England. 2012