She's also been a moral authority. She avoided the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the moral family and frequently she's shown leadership. In WWII she trained as a mechanic so she could do something tangible to support the war effort.
> the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the [royal] family
"Soap opera situations" seems like a gentle way to put it. Several of her family members have been accused of serious crimes, and associated with some very nasty people. For years they were shielded by their association with her.
Exactly. Her silence/defence of Andrew is shameful. No moral compass there. Her distinguishing feature has been to give no public interviews and to entrench antidemocratic privilege as best we can.
Dangs top post irritated me because it felt like this has to be the time to remember the whole life - not just the fantasy we are typically sold.
I think it would be safe to say she put on a stoic face to the world while fronting for what is possibly the most out of touch, dysfunctional, and entitled family in the world.
I really don't want to go on criticizing the queen at length here because I think it's a bit insensitive, so I'll be brief, but I don't think that "avoiding soap opera situations" is really the same as "being a moral authority". Not that I think she was horribly bad either, but my standards for "moral authority" are quite a bit higher. Royal families tend to be neutral to a fault.
An immoral authority. She paid no taxes, lived a lifestyle of luxury paid for by her so called subjects, has offshore accounts, no public accountability, etc. Very easy, paid for life. Nothing moral about it.
It's definitely affected me a bit today. She has a visual and historical presence in so many Canadian institutions, from her portraits hanging in my elementary school growing up, to our currency, the courts, and government itself. It's a bit hard to think of her as a real person sometimes, yet seeing Prime Minister Trudeau speak about her with glistening eyes tells me that she did more than purely her constitutional duty, but genuinely touched many, especially world leaders, with loving humility.
It feels like a minor part of our personal history died. I definitely feel saddened, even if I don't have a connection with royalty.