On the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, Alexandra Davis, Marketing & Communications Director at Pilgrims' Friend Society (PFS), reflects on why the Queen continues to be a role model across the generations.
When I was growing up in the late 80s, there were a plethora of Royal Wedding annuals, mugs and tea towels floating around our house. Then for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 I joined the throngs outside Buckingham Palace as Brian May from the legendary rock group Queen played the National Anthem on the roof. In 2012, there were street parties galore for the Diamond Jubilee and now, in 2022, we've reached that never-before-seen marker – the Platinum Jubilee of a British monarch.
Each moment has been a significant milestone in my life, but as we prepare for the celebrations for the Queen's 70 years on the throne in Pilgrims' Friend Society care homes and housing schemes, I have been reminded that the Queen has been an important figure across the generations. With plans for afternoon teas and family picnics and fun and games well underway, the deep affinity many older people feel with the Queen has been evident. They are, after all, of a generation.
Like the Queen, many of those living in our home schemes will have lived through and even served during the Second World War – when Princess Elizabeth turned 18 she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), training as a mechanic. Many of those living with us will have got married and had families at similar times. In many ways they have grown up together – passing key moments in their lives alongside each other.
We often see our PFS family members mark big occasions – and a card from the Queen is always a special part of the day! Vera at Finborough Court received her card to mark her 100<sup>th birthday, and Lloyd and Margaret at Royd Court (our housing scheme in Mirfield) had their 60<sup>th wedding anniversary topped off by their letter of congratulation.
Whether older or younger, many of us find ourselves drawn to the Queen. So, what is it about her that transcends age? I wonder if it's the knowledge of the challenges of her life that make many of us inclined to listen when she speaks. We're all very aware of the ups and downs of the Queen's long life and reign. Recent years have been marked with difficulties and sorrows – the death of her "liege man of life and limb", her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and challenges with her children and grandchildren.
All of us will know that any life is full of joys and full of sorrows and many of us will be grateful that we don't have to experience them in front of a global audience. The Queen may live in great splendour and wealth, but she knows the human heart just like the rest of us. She makes nonsense of the divisions between the ages. It is just a case of how long you have lived after all!
But perhaps the thing that I love the most about the Queen is the way she's managed to be steadfast yet willing to change. In recent years, the Queen's Christmas Day speech has become an increasingly significant outlet for expressing her Christian faith. As the Guardian noted in 2017, "As Britain has become more secular, the Queen's messages have followed the opposite trajectory." I remember the personal impact of her words when she said, "For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life."
The observation that her Christmas speeches became more recognisably Christian around the turn of the century has been attributed to various things and we'll never know for sure what those were. But the fact of the matter is that, in her mid-70s, she embraced a new way of speaking about something that was important to her. She didn't decide that because she hadn't spoken much about her faith for the previous 50 years she wouldn't start now – she actively chose to place her faith at the core of who she is and open herself up to us by showing us her true heart. It is here we see the true wisdom and value that those long years of life do bring.
As I get older, I hope I will be able to embrace this kind of change as she has. I know nothing about how that change came about, but I do know that in making that change she has edified my faith, encouraged me to look again to the Prince of Peace, and helped those of other faiths and none to reflect on the gift of Jesus as God's saving plan for our world. This is a powerful model to us, encouraging us to be more like Jesus as we get older, to speak confidently and clearly of Him, and to embrace His constant call on us to change – from glory to glory!
