A statement by the Titular Archbishop of Selsey on the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, September 8th 2022

We mourn today the passing of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, for many our only monarch and for all, the longest serving monarch of our lifetimes and in the history of our nation.

Through all the vicissitudes of modern history, the warring tensions of contemporary life, much of which affected her family deeply as well as our nation, Elizabeth II was in her person the steady anchor providing continuity and stability throughout it all. This she was able to do because of her deeply held Christian faith. Not just in her patronage of charities and good causes, and sense of duty but in her very person, possessing a living faith.

In her quiet yet not understated manifestation of Christian discipleship, Her Majesty subtly taught us by example, how to fulfill the two Great Commandments; love of God and love of neighbour (cf Matthew 22:35-40). The devotion with which she kept her Coronation Oath to God for love of Him, and the depth of her personal commitment and sense of duty to neighbour in public service for love of us, her people, is a lesson in sacrificial humility for us all. Though she would likely be the first to demure, Her Majesty’s Christian example is comparable in many ways to the great historical and canonised monarchs of our faith.

The greatness of her long reign and all the major milestones of modern history through which she lived, will surely long be remembered. But what must never be forgotten, if we would truly cherish the memory of her as a person, and if we would desire a lasting legacy of her life’s achievements, it behoves us all who share her faith to ourselves manifest it as she did, in sacrificial service of each other, our society and our nation. God save the Queen.

Long live the King.