WHEN the Queen wrote a letter to the nation earlier this year to mark 70 years since her accession to the throne, many people highlighted her wish that Camilla should be known as Queen Consort when Charles became king.
What fewer people might have noticed was that it was signed ‘Your Servant Elizabeth’.
It is this detail which lies at the core of how the Queen lived and worked throughout her long life.
The thousands queuing to file past as she lies in state in Westminster Hall will no doubt think of the Queen’s life and achievements but may not be fully aware of the true depth of her personal faith.
The reigning monarch is both the supreme governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith, meaning the Anglican faith.
The Queen’s own deep-rooted faith is at the heart of ‘The Servant Queen and the King She Serves’, a book co-written by Eastbourne author Catherine Butcher.
It was originally published six years ago as a tribute on Her Majesty’s 90th birthday and is being reprinted, so keen is the interest as the nation mourns.
Very unusually, the Queen herself wrote a foreword to the book. In it, she wrote: ‘I have been – and remain – very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for His steadfast love. I have indeed seen His faithfulness.’
Catherine, who lives in Meads and trained as a journalist on the Eastbourne Herald, co-wrote the 63-page illustrated tribute with Mark Greene, executive director of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC).
Catherine said that the detail of signing the letter ‘Your servant Elizabeth’ revealed how the Queen viewed herself in relation to the people.
She said: “In her Christmas broadcasts, which she wrote herself, it came out time and time again. Every Christmas, she mentioned her faith being an anchor in her life and Jesus Christ being an inspiration.
“This was a personal application for her and how she interpreted it in her own life. It was a life of service because Jesus was who she was following. It was probably why she decided to do a foreword to the book.”
Among many examples, the book notes the 2008 Christmas broadcast in which the Queen said: “I hope that, like me, you will be comforted by the example of Jesus of Nazareth who, often in circumstances of great adversity, managed to live an outgoing, unselfish and sacrificial life.”
Catherine said: “Other people talk about her horses and her hats and family life and what it meant to her, and so on. But week in, week out, she attended church as an ordinary worshipper – but that was not in the news.
“If you think about what she said in the speeches she wrote herself, she talked about her faith and how she lived it.”
Catherine said that many anecdotes of the Queen’s kindness and consideration for others have come to light in the past week.
Picture credit: PRESS ASSOCIATION / Danny Lawson.
Former hostage and Anglican envoy Terry Waite, kept for four years in solitary confinement in Lebanon until 1991, has spoken of how she lent him and his family a cottage on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland for as long as he wanted to recuperate away from media attention.
Catherine also pointed to an occasion on a royal tour of Canada in 1973 when she gave reporter John Harrison a seat on the royal plane so he did not miss the birth of his second son Paul, who went on to become a royal correspondent himself.
Catherine said: “Almost everyone says how she talked to them as if they were the only person in the room and that humanity is a reflection of her Christianity.
“It is about putting others first and loving your neighbour.”
The strength of the thread of faith woven throughout the Queen’s life was also illustrated by her recollections in 1977 as she celebrated 25 years as monarch with her Silver Jubilee.
At the time, she called to mind the pledge she had made several decades before.
“When I was 21, I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God’s help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret, or retract, one word of it.”
:: ‘The Servant Queen and the King She Serves’ was a gift from churches to their communities in 2016. It was published by the Bible Society, LICC and HOPE, an organisation bringing churches together. Catherine said it will be available again on the HOPE Together website later this week, priced £7.
:: ‘Our Faithful Queen – 70 Years of Faith and Service’ by Catherine Butcher, published for the Platinum Jubilee, is available from HOPE Together, priced £5.
:: ‘Elizabeth II: A Life of Grace’, written by Mark Greene and edited by Catherine Butcher, is due out next week, also from HOPE Together, priced £6.99.
Featured image: Jacob King / PA Wire / PA Images
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