it s interesting. you talked about how her reign began with the monarchy in question. and over the span of her reign, she met 14 presidents and many of them had incredible memories of their time with her. 13 presidents, sorry. one off. and it was interesting. i was reading the queen of our times about president obama s take way of his time with queen elizabeth and given the shaky start during her reign of the monarchy as a whole, his feeling was he was so struck by how much it matters to people that she represents wartime sacrifice. she represents the acceptance of deol onization. she represents victory in the cold war and she represents the values of a good regulationship. to say she was able to stabilize the monarchy and bring meaning
left. it sent a crisis throughout the institution. and the queen started her reign with this shadow of abdication on her shoulder. she had to make sure the british monarchy survived and thrived. her husband came from the greek royal family. they were deposed. she knew there were royal families around europe, russia, greece, that have not survived. it was not guaranteed that the british royal family would not go the way of some of the other royal families. and that commitment to service to the monarchy, to the institution of the monarchy and to her subjects then in the empire now in the commonwealth was her way of doing all she could during the course of her 70 years on the throne to ensure the health of the british monarchy. the other thing i think that is so critical about her was her
neutrality. her neutrality was her superpower. the fact that the british public could look at the queen and project on to her themselves because she never took an opinion on a piece of music, on a piece of architecture, on a political position. and think how incredibly rare that is today as somebody standing the queue said to me, i felt safe with her. she was neutral in this polarized world that we live in, particularly in the united states but here too, that was was that neutrality is a source of safety and comfort. it is essential to the survival of the british monarchy. and it also made pos ib the evolution from ancient empire to post modern state. anyone walking around london over the last several days saw
her staff, willie, as you mentioned, hundreds are standing for a final good-bye. it was an extraordinary moment. the gate opened, led by members of the kitchen staff, chefs, cooks, people who have served the queen over the years, and followed by hundreds of the members of people who have lived and worked in buckingham palace. dedicated their lives to her. dedicated their lives to her, and they have lined the street waiting for her coffin to pass by, so they can salute her one final time. at this palace where she spent most of her life. so much, from the time she was girl to her coronation in 1953, this became her official residence for 70 years. here you see the coffin passing under the arches, just about probably about quarter of a mile from where we re sitting down the mile. so there s a little while to go. we re seeing the canadian mounties at the very front of
is actually today. here. the queen s funeral. and there, of course, is joe biden and dr. jill biden. and the united states was allowed two guests and catty reminded us if we had the wisdom and foresight to remain a colony, we would have been allowed ten guests. as our many members of the commonwealth. but catty, it is fascinating as we watch the most powerful people assembled from across the globe, this speaks to her extraordinary soft power. as in the united states where we often overlook our strengths and focus on weaks in, that happens too with the british people.