Date: 13 September 2022
As we continue join with the nation and the world during this period of mourning we wanted to share some reflective stories of interactions and connections with the late Queen Elizabeth II from across the diocese. This one is from retired Major General Tim Cross CBE, who is a Licensed Lay Minister at St Paul's Camberley.
"During my 40+ years in the Army I had the great privilege of meeting HM The Queen on a number of occasions. Her genuine fondness for all those who served clearly reflected her own experiences in the 2nd World War. She was the last family member of the Royal family to have lived through the war, being 13 when it started in 1939 - and she was to serve herself before it finished. Her links were thus deep and abiding. She was the Colonel-in-Chief of a wide range of units in the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army – including my own Corps. And she took her duties incredibly seriously.
When she walked into a room, she brought a palpable sense of ‘presence’ and joy with her. She immediately put everyone at ease with a genuine eagerness to chat, listen and swop stories with both those serving and, in particular, veterans. Shoulders straightened and chests rose with pride whenever she appeared on a parade ground – whether that be taking the salute from the back of a land rover driving along the beach at Arromanche in front of around 11,000 veterans for the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, or on the Square at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst at a Commissioning Parade, or on a more private occasion with one of her ‘own’ Corps/Regiments.
I received my CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from her at Buckingham Palace. As usual, they were many receiving all sorts of awards for all sorts of amazing work, so I was more than pleasantly surprised when she commented on both the reason for my award and on one particular aspect of it. I rather suspect I wasn’t alone in being very touched that day.
Her deep Christian faith ensured that her love of God and her neighbour - from all walks of life – was heartfelt. From the day she took her Girl Guide promise – ‘to do my best to God and the King’ – her aim was to serve; to serve God and her people, in that order. The hat-badge of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst says: ‘Serve to Lead’. Her Majesty lived that calling out throughout her long life, nurturing the spiritual heart of the nation as she did so, and modelling Jesus’ teaching that: ‘whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.’
It was the Queen who handed her father, King George VI, the poem by Minnie Louise Haskins that he used in the extraordinary Christmas broadcast in 1939 - just 3 months after the outbreak of the war, and just 21 years after the deaths of nine million British and Commonwealth soldiers in the 1st World War:
“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the year ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown’. And he replied ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way’.”
It was a poem that stirred and strengthened the hearts of untold millions at that terrible time. It suited the occasion well – as did all that she gave in her many years as Queen afterwards. I for one will miss her enormously, but her hand is surely safe in the hand of the Good Lord now. And for that we can all be grateful."