In the past several years, a number of commentators have openly said that Queen Elizabeth had done enough; she should abdicate and let Charles take the throne. After so many years of service, she should rest from any more official duties.
These people did not remember that Elizabeth had made a vow to God to serve the British people all her life. Because of copyright reasons, I cannot provide a link to the recording. But if you look for Princess Elizabeth's 21st birthday speech, you should be able to find a version of it.
Think of what the British people had gone through: Edward
VIII abdicated after less than a year to marry the commoner with whom he had
had an affair. George VI was ill-prepared to be king, yet became the great
symbol of the Empire during the war years. But Britain had been so weakened by
the war, it was devolving from an Empire to a Commonwealth. I don’t know if
this was known to the public, but George’s health was declining.
And so Elizabeth made her vow. Many would have forgiven her if she had gone back on it in her last years. But she did not. She kept her vow to the end.
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