Editor’s Letter
Editor’s Letter
WOTC Magazine’s Platinum Jubilee Special Celebrating Her Majesty The Queen
Phadria Prendergast
12 million: that was the number of people that were expected to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen this weekend for her globally anticipated Platinum Jubilee.
70 years, a mountainous number of firsts and fourteen Prime Ministers later, it was difficult, maybe almost impossible to imagine another candidate fit to reign as Monarch.. even amongst the current line of succession.
If you knew nothing about her, a quick Google search would tell you that Queen Elizabeth II had a great sense of duty and was incredibly devoted to a life of service; a narrative so perfectly depicted in the Netflix-original drama The Crown. Reading about her was great, but limiting. However, for a creative like myself, who relied on visuals, watching her in action was unbelievable — even if it is rumoured that much of the happenings in The Crown were untrue. But if the series was anything to go by in terms of Her Majesty The Queen’s enduring, resilient and unrelenting leadership skills, I was proud to not only say she was my Queen, but one of the greatest leaders of all time.. I’ve personally got a top 5. (I’ll reveal the other 4 throughout the year).
Ironically, as my team and I finalised this very special issue release in the midst of another, I circled back to where I’d left off in the Netflix series for some inspiration. I had coincidentally stopped at Season 3, Episode 10, ‘Cri de Coeur,’ which was rather timely, as the Queen or rather Olivia Colman, the English actress who played the regal leader was celebrating her 25th year on the throne. Her Silver Jubilee.
In what was probably my favourite scene of the series, The Queen had asked Princess Margaret, her sister, what her view of her impending Jubilee was, to which she told The Queen, “You must do it,”. What would then follow was some of the most powerful few minutes in TV history which saw The Queen question her time on the throne and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon, reassuring The Queen that her soon-to-be 25-year-rule was not wasted. I could barely sit still!!
But that was the thing about Princess Margaret’s character, she was emotionally unstable, yet wise all at the same time.
I think what I enjoyed most about The Crown was that it was human. Queen Elizabeth II was indeed the leader of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms but she was a human being. She had emotions, she doubted herself, and she made mistakes. But the most incredible thing about it all, was that although she was ‘human’ with emotions, like you and I, insecurities like you and I, and shortcomings like you and I, she didn’t once allow any of it to affect, hinder or jeopardise her service and duty to her country. This was of course, in great comparison to her sister Princess Margaret who wore her heart on her sleeve and believed she could do and act as she pleased. Princess Margaret unfortunately did not understand duty. When you really thought about it, Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t human after all. You couldn’t be, to rule ANYTHING for 7 decades, consecutively.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has shown us first-hand what it means to lead selflessly. She led quietly and at times, her leadership style was called into question when it seemingly looked as though she was doing ‘nothing,’ but her leadership for the past 7 decades has helped the British monarchy to endure — for better or for worse, and so on this day, as we kick off our four-day celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, this is just a light reminder of her steadfast reign of The Crown.
Happy Platinum Jubilee!
Love Phadria x