I was a little surprised to discover that our daughters, both in their thirties, have been watching shows about the British monarchy, past and present. There is even rumour of some binge-watching of the Crown, the three-season Netflix series. My mother, gone now a year past, would have been pleased because she was the same age as Queen Elizabeth II and a staunch monarchist. One of her life highlights was to be presented to the queen in Bermuda forty years ago.
Mom was not amused at my mild disdain for the monarchy and while I watched the first season of The Crown on Netflix I wasn't particularly interested in subsequent seasons until a recent "any port in a storm" moment of weakness. We watched season three, which ran parallel to the first quarter century of our lives and brought back many memories. Then we backtracked to the second season which intrigued me because there was significant exploration of the faith of both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Through the years I'd seen footage of the royal family heading to the chapel at Windsor Castle, or Her Majesty attending occasions as the head of the Church of England at one of the great churches of Britain.Then there were the rather perfunctory references to the birth of Jesus in her annual Christmas message.
It hadn't occurred to me that she reads her bible devotionally, or that she says her prayers on a regular basis. She has spoken about the importance of her faith “I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad”
There was also an exploration of Elizabeth's unlikely relationship with American evangelist, Billy Graham, whom she met when he led a crusade in Britain in the 1950's. When Graham died in at the age of 99 nearly two years ago Time magazine described their friendship::
The pair developed an unlikely friendship, visiting one another multiple times over the following decades; on Easter Sunday 1995, Graham gave the sermon in the royal family’s private chapel, The Telegraph reports. “No one in Britain has been more cordial toward us than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” Graham wrote in his 1997 autobiography, Just As I Am. As he recalled on her 90th birthday in 2016, she could not officially endorse his work but was personally both supportive of his work and open to his religious teachings.
I find this strangely endearing. I have mixed feelings about Graham as well, because he was someone who seemed enamoured of those in power, to his peril -- think of his friendship with Richard Nixon. Still, here were two people of influence whose relationship was based on seeking a deeper understanding and relationship with Jesus Christ.
Were you aware of Queen Elizabeth's personal faith? Do you think she's doing a lot of "knee time" regarding Prince Andrew?
The Crown -- Queen Elizabeth meets with Billy Graham
2 comments:
I, too, binge watched the Crown series. I did not realize how often Her Majesty met with Billy Graham. But I am not surprised by her faith. One hopes she is on her knees a lot right now, for Britain and for HRH Prince Andrew. One thing that startled me was how she did, indeed, have some influence over some Prime Ministers, when things seemed to be getting out of hand.
It's hard to imagine Boris Johnson listening to anyone but Boris Johnson and at the end of this day he may still be Prime Minister. Is QEII rolling her eyes? Fortunately binge-watching is legal and non-fattening entertainment -- except for the couch potato factor. Thanks Judy.
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