The eventful 70 year reign of our Queen
As you all probably know, very recently the Queen of England passed away. In this article, I’d like to take a moment to highlight the struggles she survived and victories she saw during her 70 year reign as our queen. From ground breaking discoveries, to devastating disasters, she went through so much.
Starting off with some of the breakthroughs in science that she saw, Elizabeth witnessed the discovery of DNA’s structure (1953), the first organ transplant (1954), the first mobile phones (1973) and even the very first instance of an animal being cloned (dolly the sheep in 1996). And that’s only scratching the surface! Throughout her great reign the world advanced so much and yet she never stopped performing her royal duties despite how much everything was rapidly changing around her and I believe that is something worth celebrating.
She also saw many political changes in her time, from the creation of the European Union to the Scots gaining independence, - there was a lot to take in. One event I would like to highlight is the Cold War, which posed a genuine threat to the Queen as many powerful people were in danger of assassination. This would have been a terrifying time for all, with the looming monster of nuclear fallout on the horizon and many would have turned to the Queen for moral support. Eventually she saw the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.
As well as new discoveries and improvements in civil rights, Queen Elizabeth also witnessed many tragedies. She saw wars across the globe, terrorist attacks, famines and droughts and recently the COVID-19 pandemic. I mention coronavirus due to the fact that the Queen inspired many to stay positive through the famous line “we will meet again” in her great speech. She managed to find a silver lining in these horrific tragedies and kept our country's morale high even when she herself was at risk. I believe that all these things should be admired and remembered fondly by the British people.
Harry Sedgwick, Y11
Starting off with some of the breakthroughs in science that she saw, Elizabeth witnessed the discovery of DNA’s structure (1953), the first organ transplant (1954), the first mobile phones (1973) and even the very first instance of an animal being cloned (dolly the sheep in 1996). And that’s only scratching the surface! Throughout her great reign the world advanced so much and yet she never stopped performing her royal duties despite how much everything was rapidly changing around her and I believe that is something worth celebrating.
She also saw many political changes in her time, from the creation of the European Union to the Scots gaining independence, - there was a lot to take in. One event I would like to highlight is the Cold War, which posed a genuine threat to the Queen as many powerful people were in danger of assassination. This would have been a terrifying time for all, with the looming monster of nuclear fallout on the horizon and many would have turned to the Queen for moral support. Eventually she saw the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.
As well as new discoveries and improvements in civil rights, Queen Elizabeth also witnessed many tragedies. She saw wars across the globe, terrorist attacks, famines and droughts and recently the COVID-19 pandemic. I mention coronavirus due to the fact that the Queen inspired many to stay positive through the famous line “we will meet again” in her great speech. She managed to find a silver lining in these horrific tragedies and kept our country's morale high even when she herself was at risk. I believe that all these things should be admired and remembered fondly by the British people.
Harry Sedgwick, Y11
