Her Majesty

Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl

But she doesn't have a lot to say 

Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl

But she changes from day to day

I wanna tell her that I love her a lot

But I gotta get a belly full of wine

Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl

Someday I'm gonna make her mine

Oh yeah, someday I'm gonna make her mine.

                          -- Paul McCartney, Abbey Road

 

Let me say right off the bat that I'm not a monarchist. Consequently, with the passing of Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (her proper title at the time of her funeral. Imagine writing that down in a résumé), I simply shrugged my shoulders and watched the pageantry and spectacle with a mostly cynical eye.

All the pomp. All the circumstance. These are probably some of the reasons why we fought the Revolution in the first place. Americans just had to get away from castles and knights and dukedoms and fiefdoms and fairy tales and bagpipes, not to mention taxation without representation.

And, oh my, those crown jewels whose value probably could sustain a small economy. And all that privilege. White privilege. And class structure – lords and commons. And tea with jam butties. C'mon.

And yet...

Over the course of the past 10 days of mourning, I've been learning a lot more than I ever knew or understood about constitutional monarchy. 

I learned that "Hip, hip, hooray" is an actual royal honorific and not just a pub cheer.

Sure, the Royal Family is without political power. But that doesn't mean they have no sway. The modern monarchy, it seems, finds its power in the dignity of civil and charitable service even in spite of scandal, death and divorce.

It is why, I think, throngs of commoners without bejeweled crowns or scepters have come to pay their respects to the Queen. And, lest I forget, her "reign" lasted 70 years with Elizabeth cracking, if not outright shattering, glass ceilings in a mostly male dominated world.

Dignity. I forgot what that was.

And so, these last few days, I've watched ceremony after ceremony, ritual after ritual, based on centuries of tradition unfolding before us. Occasionally, I would choke up in spite of myself. After all, I am not a monarchist. Maybe it was all the church services.

In his book, "The Lyrics", former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney – and a loyal subject of the Crown – wrote about Queen Elizabeth in explaining his little ditty "Her Majesty."

McCartney wrote more than a year or two ago, "I think she's great. I have a lot of admiration for her. I think she's sensible, intelligent.

"I think she's the glue that often holds this nation together," wrote McCartney. "The Commonwealth is not the empire anymore, but it's a gathering of people, and they all like her. I was very happy when she became the longest-reigning British monarch. She's an excellent role model, holding down the job, being sensible. Loads of challenges, but she seems to manage.

"I did once perform this song for the queen. I don't know how to break this to you, but she didn't have a lot to say."

Sounds about right.