By Jojo de Lenborough
During the recent mourning period of our most beloved Queen, I was asked by acquaintances if I am a royalist, to which my answer was always that I am a self-proclaimed “ultra royalist.” This comment was often met with glee and comfort as people felt that they had found someone to confide in during those moments of sorrow. Brits are renowned to be reserved creatures who dislike bothering others with emotions. However, there are rare times where the procrastination of the potential embarrassment that can arise from displaying such feelings are foregone. This was one of them.
Of course, my friends and family needn’t ask my stance on the matter, as my blatant royalism is something that I have always worn on my sleeve. In fact, I only found out about the dreadfully sad news when my phone rang as I was in the bath and a close school friend asked how I was coping. I had been worried all day about the inevitable having followed the news earlier.
My mother called next, checking how I was feeling, followed closely by contact from my brother, who was uncharacteristically shaken by the news and admitted to being quite distraught. He had emigrated to Canada some years ago and the connection of The Queen reigning the two realms he calls home had always offered him comfort and familiarity. He, too, like the vast majority of us, had felt that he’d lost a family member. Well, The Queen had really become the grandmother of the nation and her people.
The image of the many people crowding the roads to pay respect to Her Majesty all the way from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle will always be in my memory as one of the proudest moments I have ever had of my fellow Britons.
Indeed, I was taken by surprise to the point that I was greatly moved for days by how many of Her Late Majesty’s subjects really did love her. Genuinely. I say this because, unlike anyone else I know, I not only displayed The Queen’s portraits in my home and in my office, but I also always wore portraits of Her Majesty as lapel pins and as a necklace whenever I could. This, I believed, has earned me the privilege of being able to proudly label myself as an “ultra-royalist.”
However, how I came to be so was somewhat lost on me until very recently when I went back to Thailand for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic swept the world.
Thailand is a country that I have traditionally spent a month in every year since I was 13 years old and has greatly—often subconsciously—influenced my outlook in life. One aspect is definitely my love of monarchy.
I believe that standing along with everybody else for the Royal Anthem in the cinema before the film started was my monarchist awakening. Something about the absolutely beautiful Thai Royal Anthem accompanied with the imagery of the King reaching out to his subjects on a rainy day moved me so much that I remember that I started to cry. Never before in my 13
years had I been moved to tears in such a manner. I strongly recommend listening to the Thai Royal Anthem whenever you have the chance to see if you also feel the magic that entered into my very soul that day.
Alas, I cannot remember the film that followed, but I do remember being sat throughout forming within the dark and freezing cold air-conditioned cinema a love of monarchy in my mind. How wonderful it is to have a living and breathing symbol of nation and Her continuous history for all of the citizens, regardless of politics, race, or creed, to be united in support and love for!
After leaving the cinema I went on to really notice for the first time all of the portraits of His Late Majesty King Rama IX everywhere around the city with new and enlightened eyes: from large pictures on skyscrapers to small ones in the entrance of every shop and home. I also noticed many wearing images of their Great Beloved King Rama V as necklaces, who reigned during the Victorian period, renowned for the prosperity and advancement of Siam during his reign. Inspired by this, I, too, made an image of Queen Victoria and wear that as a silver necklace quite often. In fact, my love of these images has caused me to fall quite deeply in love with the British Royal Family Orders and I am quite excited to see what His Majesty the King chooses as his colour of ribbon.
Upon my return to Britain and with each trip back to Thailand, I have become more and more monarchist and have brought back with me more and more inspiration on how to promote royalism, monarchy, and love of our Sovereign. Because, it is through that very love, en masse, we can be a united nation and family of nations across the world. A global family under one Crown upon which the sun never sets causing eternal peace between us.
It is because of my belief in this that I have a pipe-dream that the Commonwealth Realms should become a single confederated nation. We are all one family loyal to our one true king. To be British should not be dependent on where you were born or what race you are, it’s a state of mind: do you pledge loyalty and love for our Sovereign? If yes, you are British. It is the essence of what makes us as a people. The only defining characteristic or trait that binds us no matter where we are on Earth. You are one of us just as the Torah binds the Children of Israel across the planet.
The preservation of our Crown—a symbol of stability and strong defence from invaders—is something that has passed down from generation to generation of our people for over a thousand years and, like a link in a long British-forged chain, I feel it is my duty to preserve and defend the glory of our ancient monarchy for the next thousand years of Britons to enjoy, appreciate and feel proud of.
Now is time for the New Carolean Era and for me to love and treasure the images of Her Late Majesty but also replace them with our new king and queen. I already have had the opportunity to proudly sport my new lapel pin that I commissioned recently of His Majesty and it has been met with many compliments and even a doffing of hats.
I am ever so thankful to my fellow Brits for the outpouring of support and appreciation for our king as he begins the hard work and sacrifices that will burden him for the rest of his life for the good of our nations and peoples.
The privilege of being able to witness a coronation will be treasured by all who watch it for the rest of their lives and is set to be the most watched event ever in the history of television. Her Late Majesty’s funeral is the current holder of that position. A record no presidential inauguration will ever hold.
Even though I will be watching on television, I shall stand along with those at Westminster Abbey and shout “God Save The King” three times as St. Edward’s Crown is placed upon our rightful Sovereign’s head and, I do hope that in a moment of global Commonwealth Realm unity—from Canada to Tuvalu—all of my fellow brothers and sisters across the world under The Crown do likewise, for unity and fellowship is exactly why we have our king.
This reflection on Queen Elizabeth II was first published in the Fellowship & Fairydust issue Happy & Glorious: A Royal Celebration.