Former Indian diplomat AR Ghanashyam recalls his candid conversation with Queen Elizabeth

By Ar Ghanashyam
New Delhi [India], September 12 : Former Indian diplomat AR Ghanashyam recalled his candid conversation with the late Queen Elizabeth II and highlighted how she used to pay attention to the details of the person whom she was to meet.
During a short exchange of words at the time of the presentation of credentials of Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of India to the UK at Buckingham Palace on March 27, 2019, the Queen welcomed the new High Commissioner and her spouse (the author) with a charming smile saying, "welcome to the diplomatic couple".
"It appears she had been briefed about both of us. During the course of the short conversation, she appreciated the contribution of Indian doctors to the UK's National Health Service and said, "what would we do without them?"
Welcoming the author (she may have been briefed that he was a former Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria) she commented, "You must have had a difficult but interesting time in Nigeria".
Queen Elizabeth II (hereafter QE II) passed away peacefully last Thursday (September 8, 2022) at the royal family retreat - Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
As the Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island (UK) and other territories under its realm, QE II was at the helm of affairs of the British Empire for 70 years and 214 days (1952-2022).
She was the longest-serving Monarch of the UK and the second longest in history after Louis the XIV whose reign lasted 72 years and 110 days (1643 to 1715) in France.
Condolence messages for the royal family have poured in from world leaders addressed to Prince Charles, now King Charles III.
US president Joe Biden and US first lady Jill Biden said, "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said she would be remembered as "a stalwart of our times" who had "personified dignity and decency in public life".
A State funeral for the departed Queen is scheduled for September 19th at West Minister Abbey. Many world leaders are likely to attend the funeral.
Born on April 21, 1936, to the Duchess and Duke of York in Mayfair, London, QE II started with the name Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. Her father Albert Frederick Arthur George (George VI) was His Majesty the King from December 11, 1936, to February 06, 1952. He was also the emperor of India till India attained her independence in 1947.
Because of prolonged illness, King George VI abandoned a proposed Commonwealth tour in 1952. Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip undertook the tour in his place. They left London on 31 January 1952.
On February 6, 1952, the news of her father's death and her own accession to the throne was conveyed to her, now Queen Elizabeth II, while on an official visit to Kenya, the first country of the tour of Commonwealth. She had left London as a Princess and returned as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
On the eve of her demise, QE II was the Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) and fourteen other nation states viz., Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
The British Empire expanded rapidly between the late 16th century and early 18th century conquering more and more territory. At its pinnacle of glory in 1921, the British empire had earned the epithet "the empire where the sun never set" and included 412 million people - almost a quarter of the global population at that time. It covered 35.5 million km2 - a quarter of the Earth's total land area.
At the time of the coronation of QE II on June 02, 1953, the population of the UK was 50.6 million, 43 per cent of which were less than 30 years old and 15 per cent over 60 years. The UK was thus less populous and much younger then.
The estimated GDP in 1953 was GBP 367 million. Today the UK has an estimated population of 67 million with a median age of 40.5 years, GDP of USD 3.320 trillion equivalent and per capita GDP of USD 49,761 equivalent. It is a much richer and older population now as compared to 1953.
Antony Wedgwood Benn was a respected Labour Party Politician in the UK who held cabinet posts in the 60s and 70s. Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford University, asked Benn why he named his volume of Diaries of the Fifties the title "Years of Hope". Benn's response reproduced by Bogdanor in his article in the Guardian of June 01, 2003, is interesting, "We had won the war, created a Welfare State, nationalised Public Utilities, expanded Education, begun the process of Decolonization and put in place a structure of collective security. There seemed nothing that we could not achieve".
In fact, the British elite of the fifties was convinced that they were and would remain, a member of the Big Three along with the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the UK when QE II was coronated on June 02, 1953. He was staunchly against decolonization. He wanted to have a summit meeting with the USSR and neither his cabinet colleagues nor the President of USA was willing to endorse the idea. He was 79 and severely ailing but unwilling to hang his boots. Even King George VI is reported to have toyed with the idea of raising the subject of retirement with him. But Churchill stayed put anyway as Prime Minister till April 05, 1955. He died ten years later on January 24, 1965, at the age of 90.
Today's UK is a different place compared to what it was in 1953. In her first address to Parliament in London, QE II said about Europe, "It will be my government's aim is to strengthen the unity of Europe. They will work in close association with our neighbours in Western Europe and give all possible support to their efforts to forge closer links with one another."
She had the unfortunate privilege of seeing the UK break away from the European Union (EU) in her twilight years on January 31, 2020, under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The exit of the UK from the EU has not only reduced the individual stature of the UK significantly but has also decreased the collective strength and stature of the EU.
Scotland and Wales now have their own Parliaments and want to move away from the UK. The power of the British State has devolved over the years making the Parliaments of Scotland and Wales and the National Assembly of Northern Island relatively more autonomous.
On October 19, 2023, the Scots will participate in another referendum on the old question, "Should Scotland be an independent country?" If the Scots leave will the Welsh and the Irish not follow suit is an issue that cannot be ignored.
During her tenure of more than seven decades, QE II travelled over 1.66 million kilometres, visited 117 countries, passed 4000 Acts of Parliament and dealt with 15 Prime Ministers of the UK. She received 13 of the 14 Presidents of the United States and any number of leaders from across the world.
As its Head, she gracefully guided the Commonwealth of 56 Nations which hosts a combined population of 2.6 billion and collective GDP of USD 16 trillion equivalent.
Throughout her tenure QE II remained steadfast and stoic, calm and composed, wise and witty, graceful and gritty and courageous and charismatic.
She weathered every storm with dignity and humility. She carried the burden of colonization with a sense of maturity and witnessed the independence of each British colony during her long tenure and felicitated their new leaders. She will be remembered for long in the UK and the world at large.