Humility: The Queen and The Laundress
In September 2022, millions of people around the world mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022). Her funeral, a solemn and magnificent occasion, reflected the span of her reach and depth of her leadership. She lived to be ninety-six years old and reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms for seventy years.
The Queen, at her coronation in 1953, anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, took an oath to maintain and preserve the settlement of the Church of England and its doctrine of worship, discipline, and government by the law established in England. Furthermore, in step with Monarchs since the 16th century, she swore to maintain the Church of Scotland and to preserve the true Protestant religion as established by the laws made in Scotland.
Paul Kinsnorth in his essay, “Last Post for Christian England,” notes that at the coronation, the Archbishop’s anointing and the Queen’s oath symbolized the transfer of power and authority that flowed from God, into the monarch, and then outward to serve and rule the people.
The point of the model of sacral kingship is that all true power resides in and emerges from the great, mysterious, unknowable, creative power at the heart of the universe - the power which we call, for want of a better word, ‘God.’ Any power that the monarch may exercise in this temporal realm is not ultimately his or hers.
At the end of her funeral, if you happened to be watching, the orb and the sceptre, symbolising the Queen’s spiritual and temporal authority, were removed from the top of her coffin, along with the crown, and given over to the care of the church.
At that point, Elizabeth became symbolically what she had always been in reality, and we all are-small, ordinary people, naked before God.
Queen Elizabeth, a committed Christian, often referred to her faith and dependence on God in her addresses, said this in her 2014 Christmas Address,
For me the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance, and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people, of whatever faith, or none.
Imagine living in the public eye day after day for seven decades. Her leadership and politics, her parenting and family problems, her recreation, pets, and even her wardrobe were scrutinized, weaponized, valorized, and criticized. My respect for her—from a great distance—stems from her unwavering commitment to her oath and the integrity that set her apart at an early age. She maintained a reserved dignity and sometimes agonizing consistency for all of those seventy years.
Queen Elizabeth, a small, ordinary person, called by God to serve in a powerful role, embodied humility.
Maude Watts, recently married to a young seaman, found work at New York City’s Hephzibah House in the mid-twentieth century—around the same time Elizabeth was crowned as Queen—and waited for her husband to return home from a voyage. He never did.
Maude, described as a “gift from God,” went on to serve as a laundress there for forty years and quietly passed away all alone. I learned about her when I stayed a few nights at the Hephzibah House a number of years ago. A faded photo and a brief typewritten memorial of her life and service hung framed on the wall near my bed. It is hard to explain why, but I was so moved by this simple tribute and have since often remembered the whisper of her life.
Maude Watts embodied humility.
Queen Elizabeth and Maude Watts both small, ordinary women, appointed by God to serve.
