Royalty

March 20, 2018

Little girls often imagine themselves as royalty, beautiful princesses living in castles, clothed in gowns and crowns. Even adults are mesmerized by the glamour of royal life. We don’t have a monarch, but the stars of Hollywood and the high offices of state come with the splendor and pageantry that once were the sole provenance of royal courts. 

Linda and I have been watching “The Crown,” a Netflix series portraying the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The settings and costumes are impeccable, portraying a magnificence and opulence most of us can only imagine. In the back of our minds we are saying, “I could get used to that!”

Until reality sets in. The duties of monarchy, the roles that tradition had forced upon the Queen and her husband Philip made their marriage unlike any other, with stresses and challenges we never have to think about. The Queen’s responsibilities as head of state and head of the Anglican Church meant that she had to make decisions that would tear at the very core of her family. If the series even approaches accuracy, royal constraints would in the end, affect everyone in the immediate family, either with limitations that would force them to toe a line most of us would find oppressive, or that served as a challenge to break barriers at will. 

The vanity and sterility of royal life is not anything I would choose. And yet, one doesn’t have to be royalty to be trapped in rigid tradition or wild abandon. There is much to be said for simplicity, purity, and integrity. Linda slumbers beside me. We are at peace, and have not the cares and responsibilities of royalty, even though in Christ, we are a royal priesthood, according to St. Peter. I’ll take that kind of royalty any day. It is a much happier life.