CORONA VIRUS: QUEEN ELIZABETH II URGES RESOLVE AND SELF-DISCIPLINE

I have never been a tremendous follower of "royalty," as in those people who are born with crowns and castles with moats. A lot of their activities, it always seemed to me, were a tremendous waste of money and resources. 

Counterintuitively, I have always been a staunch admirer of one member of the British Royal Family --- Queen Elizabeth II. Today, my admiration went up a notch. Again. 

In the middle of the Corona Virus/Covid 19 horror show, Queen Elizabeth II gave a brief and well written address to the UK and the world with respect to the situation.

Her presentation was simple -- an emerald green dress, three strands of pearls and the ubiquitous brooch. No need for bling during this somber moment.  

This is a woman who is 94 years old and has seen her share of life's ups and downs. While she spoke, her oldest son Prince Charles was recovering from his symptoms of the virus. So was her Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is now hospitalized because he's having difficulties breathing.

Never mind the thousands of Britons who were suffering from the virus or had lost their lives as a result.

Her voice was strong, her cadence perfectly timed, the length of time she spoke was sufficient. The Queen spoke that this time would define "our present and our future," and urged Britons to remain united and resolute to overcome the challenge.

"I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge," she said. "And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any." 

I'm a journalist by training and very frankly have very little trust in public figures, and when I hear a "speech" I often wonder who scribbled what words we heard from any of them.

Queen Elizabeth has her speech writers and of course consults often with her husband Prince Philip as to what she might say during one of these occasions. Did she write her own address today? The curt and simple sentences leave me to believe that answer is mostly yes.

Given the shenanigans by many of the political figures in the United States recently, I found myself hanging on to every word she said. There were no silly statements, no half-truths, no digs at anyone in the audience.

There were the words spoken by a woman who has been knocked down many times and gets up again, dusts herself off and keeps going. Let's not forget she is named after Elizabeth I, another feisty, incredible leader and historic figure. 

Would that some of our leaders here in the US took a page out of their "how to" book and channeled the energy of both Elizabeths. We could sure use it.

Amen, and pass the toilet paper.