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 HER MAJESTY

The Early Days



The future Queen Elisabeth II was born at her maternal grandparents’ house in London’s Bruton Street at 2.40 am on 21 April 1926, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York.

Princess Elisabeth’s early years were spent in London or at various homes of her parents’ relations, with many long holidays at Glamis Castle in Scotland. It was not a particularly royal upbringing; indeed the Duchess of York did her best to afford her daughter as normal life as possible. She taught the Princess to read and write and to speak French and she read to her from the Bible.

Princess Elisabeth grew up a serious girl. In her character there is an element of the head girl1 of a smart girl’s school. She learned to prefer facts to opinions and to expect people to listen to her and to take in what she said. She developed a retentive2 mind, with an excellent memory, despite a slightly haphazard3 education.

The Second World War dominated the lives of the family during the years that Princess Elizabeth contributed to the war effort by making a broadcast to the children of Britain in October 1940. When she was old enough, in January 1945, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service4 and learned how to deal with armoured vehicles5.

Just before the outbreak of war, princess Elizabeth had met the man she would presently marry. The King and Queen took the Princess with them on a visit to Dartmouth in July 1939, and young Prince Philip of Greece was there. The accepted6 version is that it was love at first sight so far as the princess was concerned. While Prince Philip (then styled7 Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten) served throughout the war in the Royal Navy, they maintained a correspondence.

It was in South Africa that she turned 21, pledging her life to duty in a memorable speech broadcast across the world.

The engagement8 was announced on 19 July 1947 and the couple appeared together the next day at Buckingham Palace garden party. The wedding took place at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, and was one of the first major royal occasions since the war, giving some of hope for the future to a nation just emerging from years of war and deprivation9.

Elizabeth and Philip

For a husband-and-wife team who are 85 and 80 years old respectively10, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh maintain a schedule that would challenge couples many years their junior.

In 2002, the Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee. This year, it is her 80 birthday and, completing this trio of landmark events, next year Elizabeth and Philip will celebrate an impressive 60 years of marriage. The Queen and her husband are third cousins. Philip is directly descended from Queen Victoria via11 his maternal grandmother, princess Victoria of Hesse.

Their first four years were probably some of their happiest. Making their home at Clarence House, Philip was head of the household in between the periods he was away on Naval duty in Malta. In November 1948, Prince Charles was born at Buckingham Palace; Anne followed two years later.

The honeymoon period of Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage was short-lived. By 1951, it was clear that George VI was seriously ill. The couple flew in his place to Kenia on 31 of January 1952, the first leg12 of a tour that would take them to Australia and New Zealand. The King waved them off at Heathrow, but on 6 February he died peacefully in his sleep at Sandingham. Elizabeth was queen. Churchill, her first Prime Minister, said to his doctor, ‘All the film people in the world, if they had scoured13 the globe, could not have found anyone so suited14 to the part’. From the beginning she felt her sense of duty with deep conviction and she knew that on the many occasions that duty would call, her role as monarch would always take precedence15 over her role as either wife or mother.


Her Majesty (2)
Happy and Glorious




Since her accession, Queen Elizabeth II has had to respond to many situations unimaginable half-a-century ago. Faced with messy divorces, revision of protocol and harsh criticism from her once-admiring press and public, Her Majesty has called upon her years of professionalism to help her through.

Virtually every book written about Queen Victoria contains the comment that the august lady presided over an era of rapid and unprecedented change. Population distribution, growth of industrialisation, expansion of empire, exciting discoveries from anaesthetics to X-rays, exploration and education for the masses – it was an exciting time to be alive. If that were true of Victoria it is equally true of her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. During the course of her reign man has travelled to the moon, transplanted hearts, lungs and livers, cloned animals and tinkered1 with DNA. It has been, indeed it is an exciting if challenging time to be alive – but there the similarity ends. For all the change Victoria’s reign encompassed, one constant remained: an innate2, largely unquestioning reverence3 for royalty and what it represented. The Royal Family was viewed by the general public with a kind of dazzled awe4. Newspaper reports were invariably admiring and respectful and that all-seeing and invasive5 eye called television lay far in the future.

At its beginning Queen Elizabeth II’s reign had a strikingly similar feel to it. After the initial wave of genuine grief at the premature death of her father George VI, the nation turned towards the newly proclaimed ruler with huge warmth and expectation. The ‘Shirley Temple6’ baby princess, blue of eye and golden of curl, had metamorphosed into a pin-up7 girl, a glowingly pretty young mother and wife with a pin-up prince by her side.

The Victorian constitutionalist Walter Bagehot had commented: ‘A family on the throne is an interesting idea... It brings down the pride of sovereignty8 to the level of petty life.’ People felt they could identify with the new young Royal Family. As the legendary Wall Street wizard Bernard Baruch remarked in 1953, ‘England now had three assets9: her Queen “the world’s sweetheart”, Winston Churchill, and her glorious historical past’. Churchill himself was besotted10 by the new sovereign: his half-hour audiences stretched to three times that length.

A new Elizabethan age had begun, but it was still an age of hats, gloves, corsets and curtseys11. The youthful monarch’s upbringing and isolation from the world beyond the Palace gates had been little different to her Victorian ancestors. There was still a feeling of apartness12, of regal13 distance and dignity, a feeling enforced by a largely inherited set of courtiers and advisers. Many of these grey men in even greyer suits – whose age and gravitas14 made a striking contrast to the youth and vibrancy15 of the Queen – had helped to stabilise a throne rocked by the Abdication16 Crisis of 1936. They had held it steady through the war years. Change was viewed with suspicion but change was in the air. Elizabeth could enter the homes of her subjects17 as never before through the medium of18 television. In fact the whole issue of televising the Coronation ceremony sets the scene for much of the future flavour of the reign. Elizabeth herself at first sided with traditionalists who did not want television cameras present, fearful perhaps of losing the ‘mystique’ and magic of royalty by exposure. Huge press and public outcry followed. Increasingly aware of the furore, the Queen ultimately agreed to a compromise: the service could be televised but not her Holy Communion19 and anointing20, the most private and sacred moments.

The Prince of Wales, the new Duchess of Cornwall and families after their wedding at Windsor on 9 April 2005
The press and public had vociferously insisted on their rights – and their rights had been allowed. The sovereign had bowed to public pressure at the very outset of her reign. She would continue to do so at crucial points in the years that followed and in doing so would irrevocably alter the monarchy’s image and its place in the public’s perception.

Harold Macmillan21 once commented that ‘she took her Commonwealth responsibilities very seriously and rightly so, for the responsibilities of the UK monarchy had so shrunk that if you left it at that you might as well have a film star’. The young Queen with film-star looks welcomed so rapturously22 in the far flung23 corners of her Commonwealth has matured into a Head of State equipped with formidable amounts of experience and political understanding and insight. Labour politician Barbara Castle once paid tribute to this when she remarked that she ‘respected her [the Queen] as a true professional. She was most conscientious, did her homework... adapted to each situation, changing ministers and governments... was professionally discreet above everything’.

Professionalism and discretion are certainly qualities the Queen has had to draw heavily upon during her reign, particularly the last 20 years of it. The structure of society and its values has changed drastically and her own family, almost against its will, has become a very public mirror image of some of those changes, especially when it comes to the thorny24 issues of marriage and divorce.

Royalty has always been the subject of gossip, but even at the height of the Abdication Crisis there was a reticence25 on the part of the press, a kind of gentlemen’s agreement not to publish damaging details until there was no avoiding it. Princess Anne’s divorce and subsequent remarriage created relatively few ripples. However, by the time the marriage of the Prince of Wales and the beautiful, iconic Diana was disintegrating the gloves were off26. The newspapers vied with each other to publish sensational and destructive revelations, often aided and abetted27 by the two people they were writing about. Transcriptions of tacky28 telephone conversations and confessions of infidelity on prime-time television added fuel to the flames and tarnished29 the Royal Family’s image. The Queen did not know how to deal with it.

Queen Elizabeth has been an extremely successful monarch. A peerless professional and dignified Head of State, at times her main failing has been a slowness of response to situations that has lead to misunderstanding. Much of this could be attributed to the advisors she has chosen to surround herself with, some of whom have owed their positions to tradition rather than talent. King Farouk of Egypt once said that one day the only royal houses left would be hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades30... and Windsors! He seems to have had a point and at 80 years of age Queen Elizabeth II tirelessly continues to play her ever-changing role.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

by David A Wright (UK)




ParaskevidekatriaphobiaI – that’s a word you don’t see every day of the weekII – means the fear of Friday the 13th. Despite its fearsome scientific name, the superstition that this day is unlucky is surprisingly common, even in societies which consider themselves well-educated and modern. When I was wondering what to write about this month, I happened to notice that it was Friday the 13th of October, so I thought that might make an interesting subject.



A few years ago, a study entitled “Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?” compared the amount of traffic in the UK to the number of automobile accidents on two different days, Friday the 6thIII and Friday the 13th, over a period of years. Incredibly, they found that, even though fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to road accidents was as much as 52% higher than on “normal” Fridays. Their conclusion was that Friday 13th is indeed unlucky for some people – it is better for them to stay at home! Perhaps the superstitious fear may not be so irrational after all. I wonder what you think.



Even though the day and date inevitable occur together from one to three times every yearIV, many people dread them and some won’t go to work on such days; some won’t eat in restaurants; and many wouldn’t think of arranging a wedding on the date. Dr. Dossey estimates that as many as twenty one million Americans – 8% of the population – may ‘suffer’ from this condition. And it is not just those crazy Americans either!



Of course, there are many other superstitions, but ‘unlucky Friday the 13th’ is one of the most widespreadV. The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have inauspicious1 reputations in many cultures. It is difficult to say exactly how old the superstition is, but it is certainly ancient.



The Number Thirteen

The Turks are said to have so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged2 from their vocabulary. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue; many buildings don’t have a 13th floor; and some hotels have no room 13VI.



Perhaps most fanciful of all, some say that if you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil’s luck3. With a bit of juggling4 the words around, you can apply this to almost anyone: eg Jack the Ripper5, Prime Minister, President Bush, Vladimir Putin, Mr David Wright, etc – so it is as well that that it is just amusing nonsense!



There are many odd theories purporting6 to trace the origins of the superstition. It has been suggested that as primitive man had only his ten fingers and two feet to represent units, he could count no higher than twelve. Anything beyond twelve was a mystery and hence an object of superstition, but one wonders – didn’t he have any toes?



On the other hand, the ancient Chinese and the Egyptians seem to have regarded the number as lucky. To the Egyptians, earthly life was a quest for spiritual ascension7 which unfolded in stages – twelve in this life and a thirteenth eternal afterlife. Thus the number 13 symbolised a transformation to a glorious and welcome death. After that Egyptian civilisation perished, the symbolism survived, but thirteen came to be associated with a fear of death instead of a reverence for the afterlife. This all sounds very unlikely to me, but maybe I am too sceptical!



Others speculate that the number 13 may have been associated with the lunar cycleVII revered8 in prehistoric goddess-worshipping9 cultures. The “Earth Mother of Laussel”, for example, is a 27,000-year-old carving found near the Lascaux caves in France and depicts a female figure holding a crescent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches10. It is surmised11 that the founders of early patriarchal religions objected to this and preferred the solar calendar giving 12 months in a year. As male-dominated religions predominated, so did the number 12 over the number 13, which was thereafter considered anathema.


I The term ‘paraskevidekatriaphobia’ was coined by a Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specialising in the treatment of phobias. It is a is a specialised form of ‘triskaidekaphobia’, the fear of the number thirteen. Dr. Dossey claimed that when you can pronounce the word your fear of Friday the 13th will be cured! I’m sure he was joking about the whole thing! Clue: (pair-uh-skee-vee-dek-uh-tree-uh-FOH-bee-uh)

II The expression ‘don’t see every day of the week’ means ‘rarely’, ‘hardly ever’, almost never’. It is used to refer to something very unusual indeed. Here it is a play on words too, because ‘Friday’ literally doesn’t happen ‘every day of the week’.

III This was chosen as a typical ‘other’ Friday, with no special significance.

IV If you are interested, there were 172 Friday the 13ths during the 18th century, another 172 in the 19th century and another 172 this past century. You can check that at: http://thezodiac.com/fridaythe13th.htm

V I have heard that in Greece and Spain Tuesday the 13th takes the same role. Hence the Spanish: ‘En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques’ (‘On Tuesday, neither get married nor start a journey’).

VI Fidel Castro was born on Friday, August 13, 1926 – lucky or unlucky depending on your point of view! The Apollo 13 space mission accident happened on 13 April 1970.

VII 13 x 28 lunar months = 364 days/year





Paraskevidekatriaphobia

by David A Wright (UK)



One very common aspect of this superstition is the belief is that it is particularly unlucky for thirteen people sit down to dinner togetherI. An ancient Viking story tells how twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the evil god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed1 the party, bringing the total number of attendees2 to 13. True to character, Loki caused trouble by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favourite of the gods, with a spear3 of mistletoe4 killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved and the Norse5 themselves apparently concluded that thirteen people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.



As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper6. One of the dinner guests - the disciple Judas Iscariot - betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion7 which took place on a Friday!



Bad Friday



It is said: Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck - sailors are notoriously superstitious. The reluctance8 of seamen to sail on a Friday reached such epic proportions, that (so the story goes) in the 1800s the British Government decided to take strong measures to prove the fallacy9 of the superstition. They laid the keel of a new vessel on Friday, selected her crew on a Friday, launched her on a Friday and named her HMS FridayII. They then placed her in command of one Captain James Friday and sent her to sea for the first time on a Friday. The scheme worked well, and had only one drawback10 ... neither ship nor crew was ever heard from again. Take that story with a pinch of (sea) salt!III



Robinson Crusoe christened his servant 'Man Friday' because they met on a Friday, which was lucky for Robinson, but perhaps not so lucky for the poor servant!



Some say it was on a Friday that: Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit; the Great Flood began; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel11; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed; and Jesus Christ was crucified, so Friday is a day of penance12 for Roman Catholics - but is a holy day for Moslems.



In pagan13 Rome, Friday was execution day. In other pre-Christian cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular14 or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods. This may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays. The early Church went to great lengths to suppress pagan associations, so if Friday was a holy day for heathens15, they decreed that it must not be so for Christians - thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath".



The name "Friday" was derived from a Norse deity16 worshipped on the sixth day, known as FreyaIV - goddess of marriage and fertility. Freya corresponded to Venus, the goddess of love of the Romans, who named the sixth day of the week in her honour "dies Veneris." Friday was actually considered quite lucky by pre-Christian Teutonic peoples, especially as a day to get married, because of its traditional association with love and fertility. When Christianity came along, the goddess of the sixth day, Freya - who had the cat as her sacred animal - was recast in folklore as a witch and her day became associated with evil doings. One legend has it that when 12 witches of the north were gathered in a cemetery observing their sabbath on a moonless night, Freya, came down from the mountaintops, appeared before the group and gave them one of her cats, after which the witches' covenV - and every proper coven since - comprised exactly thirteen women.



The Unluckiest Day of All



So there are numerous intriguing connections between events, practices and beliefs attributed to ancient cultures, both the superstitious fear of Fridays and the unlucky number 13, but there is no convincing explanation of how, why or when these separate strands17 of folklore converged18 to mark Friday the 13th as the unluckiest day of allVI.



It seems that no one has been able to document the belief prior to the 19th century, so some scholars are convinced that the stigma19 is a modern phenomenon exacerbated20 by 20th century media hype.



It seems probable to me that the extra misfortune attributed to Friday the 13th can be accounted for in terms of an accrual21, so to speak, of bad omens22:



Unlucky Friday + Unlucky 13 = Unluckier Friday.



So perhaps we should not call Friday the 13th "the unluckiest day of all", but should reserve that designation for, say, a Friday the 13th on which one breaks a mirror, walks under a ladder, spills the salt, and spies a black cat crossing one's path. On such a day, if there ever was one, you had best spend it in the safety of your home with the doors locked, shutters23 closed and fingers crossed!



I It is said that the mother of the British Queen would not allow thirteen people to sit with her at a meal. Others claim that Hindus also believe this to be unlucky.

II There is no HMS Friday to be found in the naval archives, but why spoil a good story with facts?

III Another superstition!

IV Or Frigg. An alternative scientific name for the superstition is: friggatriskaidekaphobia.

V A group of witches.

VI It is interesting how these beliefs develop, persist and spread. An eminent Oxford University Professor, Dr Richard Dawkins, has suggested that pieces of information (‘memes’), such as these superstitious ideas, may evolve and ‘struggle’ for survival in a manner comparable with that of genes. I strongly recommend his books if you wish to learn more of this idea and of Darwinian evolution by natural selection in general.



Now Enjoy Reading Fabulous Short Stories


The cloud and the dune by Paulo Coelho



"Everyone knows that the lives of clouds are very active, but very short," writes Bruno Ferrero. And that brings us to another story:

A young cloud was born in the middle of a great storm in the Mediterranean Sea. But it hardly had time to grow there; a strong wind pushed all the clouds towards Africa.

As soon as they arrived on the continent, the climate changed: a warm sun shone in the sky, and down below the golden sand of the Sahara desert spread into the distance. The wind continued to push them towards the forests in the south, since it hardly ever rains in the desert.

However, just as it is with young people, so with young clouds: this one decided to break away from its parents and older friends, to see the world.

- What are you doing? - complained the wind. - The entire desert is exactly the same! Come back to the group, and let's go to the center of Africa, where there are beautiful mountains and trees!

But the young cloud, a rebel by nature, did not obey; little by little, it lowered its altitude, until it was able to float on a gentle, generous breeze down near the golden sands. After wandering all over the place, it noticed that one of the dunes was smiling at it.

It was because the dune was also young, recently formed by the wind which had just passed. Straight away, the cloud fell in love with its golden hair.

- Good morning - said the cloud. - What is it like living down there?

- I have the company of the other dunes, the sun, the wind, and the caravans which pass by from time to time. Sometimes it is very hot, but it is bearable. And what is living up there like?
- There is also the wind and the sun, but the advantage is, I can wander across the sky and get to know everything.
- For me life is short - said the dune. - When the wind returns from the forests, I will disappear.
- And does that make you sad?
- It gives me the impression that I am of no use to anyone.
- I feel the same way. As soon as another wind comes, I will go south and become rain; however, that's my destiny.
The dune hesitated for a moment, before saying:
- Did you know that, down here in the desert, we call the rain Paradise?
- I didn't know I could become something so important - said the proud cloud.
- I've heard several legends told by old dunes. They say that, after the rain, we are covered in herbs and flowers. But I'd never know what that is like, for in the desert it only rains very rarely.
This time it was the cloud which hesitated. But then it started to smile joyfully:
- If you like, I can cover you with rain. Although I've only just arrived, I am in love with you, and would like to stay here forever.
- When I first saw you up in the sky, I too fell in love - said the dune. - but if you turn your lovely white hair into rain, you will die.
- Love never dies - said the dune. - It transforms; and I want to show you Paradise.
And so it began to caress the dune with droplets; they remained together like this for a long time, until a rainbow appeared.
The next day, the small dune was covered in flowers. Other clouds passing towards central Africa, thought that must be part of the forest they were searching for, and poured down more rain. Twenty years later, the dune had become an oasis, which
refreshed travelers under the shade of its trees.
And all because, one day, a loving cloud hadn't been afraid to give up its life in the name of love.



The weeping sand by Paulo Coelho


As soon as he arrived in Marrakech, the missionary decided that he would spend each morning in the desert which lay beyond the town. During his first walk, he noticed a man lying in the sand, caressing the ground with his hand, and with his ear pressed to the earth.

"He is a madman," he said to himself.

But the scene was repeated every day, and intrigued by this strange behavior, after a month he decided to speak to the stranger. With great difficulty - since he did not yet speak Arabic fluently - he knelt down beside him.

- What are you doing?

- I am keeping the desert company, and consoling it for its solitude and tears.

- I didn't know the desert was able to weep.

- It weeps every day, because it dreams of becoming useful to man, and being transformed into a great garden, where one might grow grain, flowers, and raise sheep.

- Then tell the desert that it has fulfilled its mission well - said the missionary. - Each time I come walking here, I understand the true dimension of mankind, for its open space allows me to see how small we are beside God.

"When I see its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world, who were created equal, although the world is not always fair to all. Its mountains help me to meditate. Upon seeing the sun rise on its horizon, my soul is filled with joy, and I am closer to God."

The missionary left the man and returned to his daily affairs. To his great surprise, the next morning, he found him in the same place, in the same position.
- Did you tell the desert everything I said to you? - he asked.
The man nodded.
- And it continues to weep nevertheless?
- I can hear each of its sobs. Now it is crying because it spend thousands of years thinking it was completely useless, and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its destiny.
- Then tell it that although man has a much shorter life, he also spends many days thinking he is useless. He rarely discovers his destiny, and thinks God has been unfair to him. When the moment finally comes that some event shows him why he was born, he thinks it is too late to change his life, and he continues to suffer. And like the desert, he blames himself for the lost time.
- I don't know whether the desert will hear - said the man. - It is already so used to the pain, and cannot see things differently.
- Then let us do what I always do when people lose hope. Let us pray.
The two men knelt down and prayed; one turned towards Mecca, for he was a Muslim, the other placed his hands together in prayer, for he was a Catholic. Each prayed to his own God, who was always the same God, although people insisted on calling Him different names.
The following day, when the missionary went on his morning walk, the man was no longer there. At the spot where he used to embrace the sand, the soil appeared to be moist, a spring having emerged. During the following months, this spring grew in strength, and the inhabitants of the town built a well around it.
The Bedouins named the place "Well of the Desert Tears". They say that all those who drink its water, will succeed in transforming the reason for his suffering into the reason for joy; and will end up finding his true destiny.