King pays tribute to ‘darling Mama’ on 100th anniverary of Elizabeth II's birth
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Elizabeth II
The King has recorded a heartfelt tribute to his “darling Mama” to mark the centenary of her birth but said much of much of life today would likely have “troubled her deeply”.
Charles’ video message in tribute to the nation’s longest-reigning monarch describes how “she remained constant, steadfast and wholly devoted to the people she served”.
He acknowledged the many challenges and issues nationally and across the globe that may have caused her reason for concern, and renewed his “own solemn pledge of duty and service to you all”.
The late Queen would have turned 100 today (Tuesday) and the King said her existence should be celebrated as a “life well-lived” rather than marking an “absence” ahead of a series of royal events that will honour her during Tuesday.
“Much about the times we now live in, I suspect, may have troubled her deeply, but I take heart from her belief that goodness will always prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon,” the King said in his message.
He added: “For, as a young Princess Elizabeth put it in her first ever public broadcast, aged just 14, we can each play our part ‘to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place’.
“It is a belief which I share, with all my heart.”
Charles does not specify which major issues he is referring to but since the Queen’s death her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his titles over his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Meanwhile, world economies are facing uncertainty following the US and Israel’s war against Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its fifth year.
Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at her Balmoral home aged 96 on September 8 2022 after serving as sovereign for 70 years and was mourned by her family and friends, and remembered by the nation.
In the video tribute, filmed in the library at Balmoral Castle in early April, the King adds: “Queen Elizabeth’s ‘promise with destiny kept’ shaped the world around her and touched the lives of countless people across our nation, the Commonwealth and beyond.
“Her near-century was one of remarkable change and yet, through each passing decade, through every transformation, she remained constant, steadfast and wholly devoted to the people she served.
“Millions will remember her for moments of national significance; many others for a fleeting personal encounter, a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits … or for that marvellous twinkle of the eye when sharing a marmalade sandwich with Paddington Bear in the final months of her life.”
He ended by addressing his mother: “God bless you, darling Mama; you remain forever in our hearts and prayers.”
Today, the royal family are set to gather a Buckingham Palace reception with charities and organisations associated with the late Queen invited, including Cancer Research UK, the Jockey Club and the Army Benevolent Fund.
Guests will include some of the UK’s oldest citizens celebrating their 100th birthday on April 21, with the King presenting their centenary cards in-person.
Members of the monarchy will visit the British Museum to see a scale model of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial with architect Lord Foster, who won the bid to design the national monument in St James’s Park, during a reception attended by the prime minister.
The national memorial will also feature a “family of gardens” with meandering paths and a new translucent, glass unity bridge.
A statue of Queen Elizabeth II as a young woman in her Garter robes during the early years of her reign will feature.
A “few paces behind” the Queen, as was his usual position, will be a smaller statue of her consort Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, in his Naval uniform, looking up at his wife of more than 70 years.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
The likeness of the Queen by sculptor Martin Jennings will take inspiration from the celebrated 1955 portrait of Elizabeth II by Italian artist Pietro Annigoni.
The Queen sat for Annigoni at Buckingham Palace in late 1954 when she was just 28 and the Renaissance-style painting was completed the following year.
The statue will stand 7.3 metres high – with the Queen three metres tall on a 4.3-metre plinth – in a new civic space called Queen Elizabeth II Place at Marlborough Gate on the edge of the park.
The smaller companion statue – 3.8 metres in height with a 2.3-metre figure and a 1.5-metre plinth, of the duke will be located 20 metres behind in the park.
Philip will be represented at a similar age, wearing his Admiral-of-the-Fleet uniform.
The Queen’s former private secretary Lord Janvrin, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee said: “We thought it was very important that the statue of the Queen, our head of state, was on the ceremonial route in her own right.
“She will be depicted standing, on her own.
“But Prince Philip was such an important part – they worked as a team – of the realm that we’ve decided that he should be a few paces behind the Queen – a position he was accustomed to.”
Meanwhile, a Digital Memorial aims to create a “living archive” made of the public’s personal memories of Elizabeth II.
It will digitise the Court Circular – the daily record of official royal engagements – and bring it to life, mapping key events from the Queen’s reign.
The public will be asked to contribute their recollections via the website Queenelizabeth.com – which was previously owned by the luxury cruise line Cunard for the Queen Elizabeth ship, but was donated by the company after a request from the digital memorial.
Joe Garner, the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee member who specialised on the digital memorial, said: “We could create the most phenomenal archive.”
Meanwhile, a bronze angel sculpture to mark Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday has been installed in the Norman Porch of the Palace of Westminster. Created by artist Eleanor Crooks, it is one of six artworks commissioned to reflect activity around Westminster during the lying-in-state of Elizabeth II. All six pieces, including one by Scottish artist Caroline Walker, will go on show in an exhibition at Westminster Hall, which opens in July.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.