We have the Grand Canyon and Disney World and Hollywood. But Britain has the "Royals." Despite my English ancestry, I have never quite been able to understand the almost blind attraction Kings and Queens have for people in democratic countries, especially ours. There aren't too many of them left, Kings and Queens, that is, and most of those who are still around don't have very much power. But they still wear crowns and royal purple and ermine and sit on thrones. And oh what crowns! I saw the British crown jewels some years ago, without the Queen of course, and I was blinded for a week. Symbols they may be, these royal personages, but we Americans are very good at elevating symbolism to reality and we love to be impressed by them.
In 1952, many of us watched on television the coronation of the slender young Queen, Elizabeth II. She was only twenty-six years old, but in her manner she carried the weight of the British Empire on her shoulders. I remember being terribly impressed at her poise and her dignity then, and I still am. She had been trained from birth for the job of being a Queen and for all her youth she was obviously ready.
I have been watching with some interest her progress westward across the United States from Washington D. C. via Miami, to Texas.
Certainly as a reigning monarch she is being greeted with respect and warmth and good old American hospitality. But who exactly is she, this Queen travelling in the rebel colony that fought its way out of the clutches of her great, great, great grandfather? Is she symbol or is she real? She is a head of state but she does not have any political power. She is a very real woman, but she has to live her life as the image of what history and her country dictate. She is an anachronism in the modern world and it is hard to know just how to treat her. Are we expected to bow to her?
No. Jackie Kennedy settled that once again. She greeted Prince Philip after the assassination of President Kennedy with what has become known as the Kennedy dip - certainly not a curtsy, but more respectful than "Yo, Queen." Actually, a polite handshake is an acceptable greeting from a non-royal American.
I think it was as a woman and not a symbol that she went to Texas.
Molly Ivins, a columnist from the Dallas Times Herald speculates on the reason for her visit there and suggests that her son urged her to go after his visit in 1986. "Jeez, Mom, you have gotta go to Texas. You will not believe that place." The headline of Ivins' column says, "Is the Queen really ready for Texas?" Apparently she was. She visited the Alamo, listened to mariachi music and the theme from "Dallas" and made gracious remarks about the intense loyalty of Texans.
Besides being a Queen, Elizabeth II is the richest woman in the world. "Fortune" estimates her wealth at $11.7 billion.
She is outranked in wealth by three men, the Sultan of Brunei, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Forrest Mars, maker of M & M's, but even so, $11 billion ain't bad!
For all her royal prerogatives and all her wealth, she is also the mother of four and any mother with four kids, even if she is a Queen, has some problems in common with the rest of us. She had one job that we don't have, though. With us, raising our kids to be productive, happy, perfect people is all we have to do. But she had to raise a King. That, I suppose, might add a bit of pressure to motherhood. Since the British tabloids keep very close watch on the "Royals" we know that her princes and princesses have not been without their problems but she has handled them.
Real woman or symbol, I hope Elizabeth II has enjoyed her visit to the United States. As the symbol of the crown she has the dignity, poise and self assurance of a Queen. As a human woman, she worries about her kids, wears hats most of us would never be caught in and loves cross-word puzzles. In her very proper purse she carries pink lipstick, a lace hankie, smelling salts and treats for horses.
In the words of my non-royal ancestors, "God Save the Queen" - whoever she is. But I am glad that she belongs to Britain and not to us. I could never have learned how to curtsy.