The Queen and I, by Veronica Bright

 

 It's the end of an era, isn't it?

At a first glance, HM the Queen and I have very little in common. People all over the world recognise the Queen, whereas a mere handful could identify me in a crowd scene. I love, respect and admire HM, but I get the feeling that she is, I fear, in danger of being thought of as a saint, whereas like other people, she and I have faults, and I cringe when mine are thrown into a spotlight of any kind.

You’ll be glad to know that there is one place where faults and inadequacies are necessary, and need to be given an airing, and that is in the place where fiction writers create a protagonist of any kind. We have to work hard at making our heroes or heroines less than perfect. They need to have flaws or vulnerabilities that a reader will feel comfortable with; relieved perhaps that here is someone who gets in a strop sometimes, or misjudges people, or says unkind things when they feel threatened.

Do you remember that time (July 1982) HM was startled in her bedroom in Buckingham Palace by a man who had managed to elude security measures and was, I discovered, quite startled himself, when he realised who he was disturbing as she slumbered. I read a report in which he admitted that he stood there shaking. He said the Queen got out of bed and told him she’d go and get somebody. I rather think that a fiction writer wouldn’t let HM get away with that. I suppose monarchs don’t shout, ‘Off with his head,’ any more, but I would have liked a scream, whether long or short I care not, or if not that, then a few gasps at least.

But our Queen was like that, I understand, calm in a crisis, and keeping her wits about her even when asleep in bed. It was the intruder who ended up quaking, and, I read, taken off to be given a whiskey until the police arrived.

Dare I say that here we have an ideal protagonist—bold, daring, a bit of a show-off perhaps—quivering at the first hurdle? I shall have to pop him into my ideal protagonist ideas cabinet. (This isn’t actually a cabinet at all, but the words ‘a notebook’ seemed unimpressive and not at all memorable.)

I’m pretty sure HM did have some faults, because we all do, but I don’t want to know about hers, nor about anybody else’s. I’ve got quite enough to be going on with, thank you. We love our heroines and heroes because they aren’t perfect, and because they advance our compassion for, and understanding of, other human beings like us.

The Queen and I. We have the same desire to serve God, and to do our best in all circumstances, and if (when) we mess up, with God we know we can always start again with a clean slate/fresh page/new document.

The Queen and I are a tiny bit alike after all.

Veronica Bright has won over forty prizes for her short stories, now published in three collections. She writes reviews for Transforming Ministry. She is the ACW short story adviser, and runs the ACW Writing for Children group, whose members meet up on Zoom. For more details look on the Writing for Children Facebook page. And if you live near Plymouth, Veronica runs the Plymouth Christian Writers group. Monthly meetings on Zoom. See the Christian Writer for details.