God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save the Queen
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen
This week our Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, marks a very special occasion. This week she has become the longest reigning Queen ever in the 1100 years of monarchy in the UK. At 5:30 pm British Standard Time on Wednesday, the 9th of September she has reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes – surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. The Queen has said that overtaking her great-great-grandmother wasn’t something she’d ever aspired to. She was simply the beneficiary of a long life. The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth and Sovereign of 15 Commonwealth realms in addition to the UK. The Commonwealth’s Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, sent his congratulations:
“As a symbol of continuity during decades of unprecedented change, and by drawing our people together in their rich diversity, Her Majesty has embodied all that is best in the Commonwealth. With vision and dedication her example has encouraged successive generations of leaders and citizens to embrace the promise of the future.”
This week our children have been celebrating our Queen and her impressive reign. The children have been making crowns and learning about the woman who has been on the throne since 1952. For the children, and for most of us, she is the only monarch that we have ever known.
Queen Elizabeth has been a constant, steady and graceful figure in a period of radical social and political change. Long may she reign. God save the Queen!
