Exactly one hundred years ago a young boy was born in the sunny island of Corfu to aristocratic parents of royal descent. Son of a Prince of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice Battenberg, one of the many offspring of Queen Victoria by way of her eldest daughter, the young Prince was destined to a life of leisure and privilege. It was not to be, at least not in the beginning.
The child was caught in the turmoil that was Europe at the start of the century and after his uncle the King of Greece was deposed his family fled to France, hiding the child in a fruit crate to protect his life. His childhood was not a happy one. His mother was locked in an insane asylum and his father led the life of a penniless philanderer in the Riviera, that “sunny place for shady people”*.
The son landed in England, was put in charge of relatives and sent to a tough boarding school in faraway Scotland; he had neither parents nor a country and was basically a stateless person. His favorite sister died in a plane crash along with all her family. He adopted Britain, became a citizen, joined the Navy and found a new home and a purpose in life.
Then he fell in love.
Looking back and remembering that the girl in question was all of thirteen when she set eyes on the very dashing, very handsome cadet it is quite possible that it was a true case of “she saw him first”.After all he was an 18-year old seafaring man of the world and she was just a kid.
As fairy tales go this one went swimmingly. They overcame the courtiers objections: his lack of family, fortune and country, his original German name, now Anglicized, and his junior position; the young girl fought hard, persevered and won.
Not surprising when you think she has been Head of an assortment of Nations, starting with her own and her Church for 68 years. She definitely knows what she wants and won't be swayed.
So at the ripe age of 21 Princess Elizabeth, today Queen Elizabeth II, married Prince Phillip Mountbatten and Duke of Edinburg who passed away last week after 74 years of marriage.
As love stories go it doesn’t get any better than this.
Still it is a story that is richer than most love stories because it involves espousing duty and service to your adopted country as part of the package. It is a well-known fact that once his wife became Queen he had to give up his Navy posting, a job he loved and basically become another servant of the Crown. What is less known is that in the tradeoff he not only got titles and privileges, but that the basically orphaned boy got a family, roots, and the appreciation of a country for services rendered.
All this became apparent last week when the British people sincerely mourned his passing as the “no fuss” guy that kept it all together.
The only thing worse than not having a country, is not having a family; in third place comes not having something to do in the service of others. In today’s world this last usually sounds trite and we tend to admire the young billionaire who creates Tik Tok and sells it for gazillion dollars.
When all is said and done I believe it is much more rewarding to live in the hearts of people with the fond memory of the time you gave them and the things you shared.
Which brings me, in not-such-a-roundabout-way, to the vast difference in style but also in substance of the way Prince Harry abandoned his responsibilities and the duties his ageing grandfather fulfilled until recently with no whining and never claiming any sympathy in return.
It sheds light on the coarse and mercantile way his wife threw away her chances for serving her adopted country and bringing her own children closer to the Queen and her beloved husband.
It is now too late, that boat has sailed.
And for which destination: La La Land and their celebrity cult, and the pride of doing voice-overs for Disney and content for Netflix? Sure falls short of a life of duty and service and the legacy you can leave behind.
The Queen’s loss is huge.
It has been a rough year for everyone, and it continues to be. But it is particularly hard when you are 95 and there is no time to make up for lost time. She will live the rest of her -possibly a very long life- without Phillip, and probably without Harry too.
She will look back on her love story and remember her extraordinary destiny and will find it very lonely.
People complain how time flies but it is the time that you have left after a great loss that crawls by ever so slowly.
* Somerset Maugham
Comments