Duty. Not a word used much these days. But one you will have heard countless times in the last 36 hours since the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced. She was a woman of it. Working and performing her duties until the end, having only just invited the newest Prime Minister to form her government.
One of the great skills of how Her Majesty reigned was that, somehow, despite being a royal and all that brings with it, her way of working and seeing the world felt relatable.
She has been called the matriarch of the nation by some and every Christmas Day with her 3pm address, she provided an assembly for those interested adults who had long left school but still felt in need of some quiet guidance from the headmistress with a twinkle in her eye.
Her duty to her role, the nation and Commonwealth, her family and religion underpinned the Queen’s existence. As well as her love of Corgis and horses of course.
While we can’t relate to much of her day-to-day existence, with the little she let us know of it, we all have our duties. Things we have committed to and people to whom we are devoted.
Reframing some of those more difficult bonds and undertakings as duties could make the load a little lighter. Certain things have to be done, so they might as well be done as well as possible.
In a world filled with people talking about the search for purpose and meaning, often from the perspective of how to improve only one person’s life, namely your own, “duty” speaks to a bigger purpose. To community and of how we all fit together.
A life interspersed with duty doesn’t need to mean a cap on joy either. We are told that the Queen was a great mimic, loved nothing more than making light of when things went wrong and had a fabulous stock answer if someone’s mobile rang while they were talking to her. Without missing a beat she is understood to have said: “You’d better answer that. It might be someone important!”
The Queen admitted that some of the younger members of the Royal Family struggled with the regimented nature of the royal life but it seemed like a strong sense of duty was a key ingredient in traversing that too. And someone you greatly enjoyed standing next to, as she had in Prince Philip, her “strength and stay”.
This year I marked the Platinum Jubilee with a special programme for the BBC looking at the Queen’s role around the world. In The Royal Diplomat I spoke to those who worked with her behind the scenes on the thorniest global issues and watched her yield her soft power and display a unique diplomacy.
I also interviewed former prime ministers, the grandson of a US president and those who witnessed her making history from the trip to Berlin after the war to her historic 2011 visit to Ireland. Reconciliation was a major theme and guiding principle of her work - but it was all augmented through one thing: a deep and abiding sense of duty.
Your duties may be much smaller but no less meaningful to those in your lives. From the weekly shop to a phone call with a difficult friend, international relations may not be affected by their occurrence - but they still need to be done and do greatly matter.
Here’s to keeping on keeping on. And all with a twinkle in the eye where we can manage it.
Thank you Ma’am.
You’re so right Emma. Where do we see duty played out these days? In my life I see people who exit stage left at the merest hint of having to dig in and carry out duty. Particularly with family members and health. It’s horrible, yet tells a story of our current value system and constant messaging that as individuals the pursuit of our own goals and happiness comes above all else. Yet there are times when sacrifice is clearly required. I hope this discussion around Queen Elizabeth II leads to a sense that there will be times when we are all called by duty to sacrifice something for the good of others or the greater good. Can’t think of anything that would build more character in a person.
Wholehearted agreement! I love the dry sense of humour this great person was capable of. I read somewhere, ages ago, that when someone said to her “You look just like the queen” she replied “That’s reassuring.” However, I admire her most for her sense of duty and the fact that she lived her life with a clear vision of what she wanted to do. That clarity of understanding!