60th anniversary of the Queen's Accession

Monday 6th February 2012


Mist in the valley

As yesterday (the Sunday nearest to the anniversary of the Queen's Accession) we had prayers of thanksgiving for her long devotion and faithfulness.  I don't remember the weather sixty years ago.  (My father had gone to work abroad, taking the family with him to tropical climes where I started my schooling as a four-year-old.)  Perhaps in England it was a frosty day like today with the cloud hanging cold below the fell.
    It occurred to me that for most of us, our idea of the Queen is based on the glimpses of her public life that we catch.  It's not unlike people's picture of the clergy:  they think that Sunday is my "busy day" because it's the public face of the week's work.  Today, for instnace, there was almost nothing in my diary by way of appointments.  But it's been one of those very busy behind-the-scenes days, with much liasing over funerals and an impending wedding with scattered families, funeral directors, doctors, people on hilltops out of mobile phone signal range, district nurses, farmers, publicans and Registrars.