Truly, the end of an era.

The death of Queen Elizabeth has brought an outpouring of grief, affection and sympathy, not just here but throughout the world, something that I have rarely seen in my lifetime. Right up to the end she carried out her constitutional duties. First, by (gleefully) accepting Boris’s resignation and welcoming the new Prime Minister. She attended and felt the affection of those who performed and attended her Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Her job which she did, almost to perfection was not to rock the boat but to steady the ship as the UK and the world changed around her. Over her reign, she exhibited qualities of duty, respect, integrity, humility, and strength of character, qualities that would have not gone amiss in recent times. She bought deft diplomatic skills to the international stage and had a knack for building bridges where history had burnt them down. This was exhibited on her state visit to Ireland in 2011. She opened her speech at Dublin Castle in Irish and then went on to acknowledge our tortured history, the suffering of all involved in the conflict and the close family ties that exist between the people of Ireland and the UK. Furthermore, she looked forward to assisting in building new bridges and cooperation between the two nations, as equals.

She acknowledged Martin Luther King Day on Jan 22, befriended Nelson Mandela and acknowledged his pivotal role in bringing about a new multi-racial South Africa. She also remains to this day highly regarded and respected throughout the Commonwealth. In our own wee place, she extended the hand of friendship and cooperation to Martin McGuinness and he acknowledged her part in the process of reconciliation and peacebuilding on this Island.

She presided with dignity and skill over a post-war Britain that was losing its empire and was in both economic and diplomatic decline, but she had the ability to make everyone feel that things can only get better. She dutifully handed out MBEs and OBEs, for an empire long gone, an anachronism that people like the buffoon, Reece Mogg cling on to.

Look, I am no starry-eyed Royalist but a republican (in the broadest sense), but I can respect her role as the constitutional head of state and at the same time not conflate her role with the bad and ugly of British history. Though she was born into the role, unlike President Higgins who was elected, however, she also sought to bring people together without the trappings of any political power.

 My father came from India to Northern Ireland in the 1950s and respected the Queen, even though he spent his student days as an active member of the Indian “Brits Out “movement. He wasn’t even that fussed about the fact that the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond plundered from India, remains the pre-eminent jewel on the Queen’s crown. His rationale was that he had now made the UK his home and he will not go on blaming the current generation for the sins of their fathers.

The queen’s legacy will endure and she will be remembered as probably Britain’s greatest monarch, not for her advocacy for change, as that was not in the job description but for how she played a role in helping to navigate that change from rebuilding after the war to Brexit. We will never know her thoughts and opinions though, I would expect those thoughts were relayed to the political establishment through well-established channels.

Finally, commentators have said, King Charles has enormous boots to fill, the only advice I can give him is, don’t try. My father was a Hindu and at the age of 16, I asked him if I was one too. His response was profound as it was unique “I may have contributed to your creation, but I never want you to be my reflection “. I have lost both my parents and their boots I could never fill, though they have left me a high bar to clear regarding principles, values, family and community. They may not be with me physically, but they haven’t gone away you know.

Let me know what you thought in the comments below 👇

Suneil Sharma

11^th September 2022