Today has many meanings for us:
We celebrate the life and era of HM Queen Victoria, under who's reign Britain and her Empire achieved greatness. The era of the Pax Britannia, when the world knew relative peace and prosperity, when culture could develop and people could begin to lay the foundations for a modern world.
We celebrate our Soverign Lady and head of state, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She is, unlike our heads of government, above politics and is an inspiration to the peoples of the vast Commonwealth of which we are members. (btw - the is the first Victoria Day in my memory that She'll be in Canada!)
most importantly, though, we celebrate what might have been called in previous decades "the natural rights of every freeborn Briton." Unlike most countries, Britain and her Great Dominions did not not have to experience a violent revolution or bloody coup to achieve freedom and rights. The institution of the constitutional monarch is the manifestation of the God-given (and I sincerely believe that) benefices of Britons and their far-flung descendants.
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free...
and
And Guardian Angels sang...Britons never shall be slaves!
If they're overplayed, it is not without reason.
Some may mock the monarchy as a medieval institution which is long-past its prime, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more stable and prosprous system of government anywhere in the world.
May God save the Queen.
We celebrate the life and era of HM Queen Victoria, under who's reign Britain and her Empire achieved greatness. The era of the Pax Britannia, when the world knew relative peace and prosperity, when culture could develop and people could begin to lay the foundations for a modern world.
We celebrate our Soverign Lady and head of state, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She is, unlike our heads of government, above politics and is an inspiration to the peoples of the vast Commonwealth of which we are members. (btw - the is the first Victoria Day in my memory that She'll be in Canada!)
most importantly, though, we celebrate what might have been called in previous decades "the natural rights of every freeborn Briton." Unlike most countries, Britain and her Great Dominions did not not have to experience a violent revolution or bloody coup to achieve freedom and rights. The institution of the constitutional monarch is the manifestation of the God-given (and I sincerely believe that) benefices of Britons and their far-flung descendants.
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free...
and
And Guardian Angels sang...Britons never shall be slaves!
If they're overplayed, it is not without reason.
Some may mock the monarchy as a medieval institution which is long-past its prime, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more stable and prosprous system of government anywhere in the world.
May God save the Queen.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]. So belated congrats on your commonwealth holiday.