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A grand love affair …

I’m not a royal commentator or biographer. I’m a Republican. I have next to nix interest in the British Royal Family. The passing of a Duke resonates on a very low level with me … however … the passing of a man who loved and appreciated his partner over the course of his long lifetime does resonate at a very high level.

Over the next day or so the mainstream media is going to gush and gush everything royal. Commentators are going to wax lyrical about the Royals and how the passing of a Duke is not only the end of an era but also a good enough reason for all of us to drop our flags to half mast and abjectly fall into a period of national mourning and flower laying.

The death of any human being (with the exception of the Hitlers of this world) is a sad thing. The death of Philip is a sad thing.

But what a legacy he leaves behind!

As far as I am concerned Elizabeth and Philip were/are two ordinary human beings who met and fell in love, and that love endured over the course of their very long lifetimes. Their story greatly transcends the fact that they were protected elites sitting atop the baubles of an irrelevant crown-based power. The power of their story would be as strong had they been a couple who lived their lives unseen in the outer reaches of Dagsville.

In one way Elizabeth and Philip remind me of every other old couple we occasionally spot wobbling their way through a park hand in hand. Their story reminds me that, in this era when relationships have temporary tenure, and when too many men treat far too many women atrociously, there still does exist a thing called enduring unconditional love.

I’m not going to falsely eulogise Elizabeth and Philip, it is a given that they would have had their ups and downs together. However, they stuck with and supported each other until they reached very old age, and it only ended because one of them died.

So I salute Philip and Elizabeth. Two ordinary human beings. I salute the long life they shared. As a Republican who salutes no royal standard, I do salute the fact that they did show that the only enduring thing of value in this life is friendship and love.

I pay tribute to the power of love.

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11 comments

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  1. Uta Hannemann

    ” . . . . the passing of a man who loved and appreciated his partner over the course of his long lifetime does resonate at a very high level.” I very much agree with this. And I love this “royalty-free stock photo” of them! 🙂

  2. Jennifer A Meyer-Smith

    nicely said, Keith

  3. Baby Jewels

    A man who’s been there my entire life. One who’s been a curiosity to me and one who’s made me laugh on more than one occasion. It’s the end of an era. And they did seem to genuinely care for each other, as far as I could tell. That’s special.

  4. Gangey1959

    That is a wonderful photograph. They “are” a very special couple.
    A platinum wedding anniversary is incredibly special.
    I’m a republican. To the core.
    HRH Prince Phillip. RIP.
    You rock.

  5. DrakeN

    My sentiments also, Keith.
    Last night’s ABC TV being given over in its entirety to eulogising the man was too much, though.

  6. Keitha Granville

    Same, what a life. It seems from everything about them over the years it was truly love. That must have made the lives of their children doubly sad in many ways.
    As a wife of only 42 years I cannot begin to knew how I will manage without my husband – if nothing else the Queen is now very truly alone, and I am sad for her.

  7. wam

    Once again, keith, you have shamed me into thinking. I have always admired the queen for her dedication to sheer hard work but forgot that marriages are two(remember diana’s sadness ‘3 in this marriage’) people sharing the good, the bad and the ugly. She will be lonely without Sir Phillip, but hopefully, her strength will prevail. ps I am a republican to my darling’s royalism but will never endorse us being a republic without the pollies revealing every detail of how it will be established. pps We went to a garden party and I wrote the queen a letter. I got a note from buck house saying her majesty enjoyed reading your letter.

  8. leefe

    I hate to rain on this parade, but I was under the impression that it was common knowledge that he was a serial adulterer.
    As for support, this was a bloke who publicly whinged over his kids not getting his surname and singlehandedly made the whole concept of a Royal Family look updated and bizarre. He was racist, misogynistic ignorant old coot who refused to change.

    As for Liz, she has four children, a hell of a lot more grandchildren, and a fair few great grandiies, not to mention her staff. “Alone” is not something she needs to worry about.

  9. Keith Davis

    Hi Wam (and thank you everyone for your comments).

    I guess Wam, in the old parlance, you and I are Parliamentary Roundheads and certainly not Royal Cavaliers – and let’s face it – if someone wants to bop you on the head with the flat of a sword it is better to be wearing a round metal helmet rather than a silly felt hat with a feather sticking out the back!

    I do often wonder why we need an official Head of State at all under whatever republican model we ultimately adopt. The assumption is always made that we need one. But do we? We have a Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and a heap of other so called representatives of the people to welcome visiting overseas elites. I like the fact that the PM is a representative of our nation on a cyclic temporary basis – and that we can chuck the incumbent out every three years if we feel it is warranted (certainly is at the moment). So why do we need another layer of bother attached to the side of our Parliament?

    It really does strike me as strange that we have a plethora of Governors and Governor-Generals waltzing about in taxpayer funded vice-regal palaces (oops .. Government Houses) parading about in medal-bedecked uniforms or pin-striped suits representing us peasant bods. If the astounding level of vice-regal parading and pig-troughing disappeared overnight I’d be interested to find out if anyone would even notice.

    Obviously, I hope we become a Republic soon, I hope we stand on our own feet soon, I hope we divest ourselves soon of an attachment to the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the House of Wettin) which succeeded the House of Hanover and renamed itself Windsor in order to keep the Brit people happy in 1917 (good old Wikipedia).

    I’m still struggling with the Space Elevator article I promised you. In time it will come!

  10. Kerri

    I agree #leefe.
    My impression is that Phillip often went “wild” on his “Lilibet” and was always sour that she was held in higher regard and would pass her name on to their children. You can see where Charles gets it from.
    I am more concerned at how Elizabeth will cope without him?
    He would be fine without her but she may well decline quickly for his absence.
    Also how Prince Charles, who has declared within 24 hours of his father’ passing that he is “missing dear Papa” already. Philip’s treatment of Charles, well let’s just say in modern times would not be acceptable!
    Spare the rod and spoil the child?
    It clearly has had long term effects on our future monarch who once wanted to be a tampon!
    This video says it all about Phil the Greek for me.

  11. Keith Davis

    I’ll leave the attacks on Liz and Phil to other people. Whatever their ups and downs, whatever their mistakes, the undeniable fact is that they were there for each other in the latter period of their lives. Was Liz perfect? Probably not. Was Phil perfect? Probably not. But they did endure. Good on them!

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