The Long and Winding Royal Road

It was a simple text from my husband that alerted me to the news.

‘King Charles,’ it read.

 

I immediately knew what had happened.

 

I was at work and I immediately did a Google search. I saw the CNN headline “Queen Elizabeth Dies at 96”. I told my coworker then sat in shock for a moment. I couldn’t even process what was happening. So many thoughts were running through my head. I never knew a time before Queen Elizabeth and now there was a new king - a man who had been preparing for just this very moment for decades. 

 

As a long-time Anglophile, I have been watching the British royal family since I was a little girl. I liked fairy tales and I liked the idea of kings and queens, princes and princesses, crowns and castles. But the story of the House of Windsor was real as opposed to the make believe, happily ever after, Cinderella stories. But when I was little, I didn’t know all the drama that went on behind the scenes. (And were we ever in for a wild ride as the relationship between Charles and Diana unfolded over the years!)

 

As the afternoon of September 8th went on, I received texts and emails from my children, who knew I would take the news hard. It was thoughtful how they were looking out for me. I talked to my mom who is also a royal watcher. Her thoughts went straight to Camilla, Charles's wife of 17 years. What would her role be? Would we really have to call her queen?

It was hard for thoughts not to stray to what could have been. What if Charles and Diana could have stuck it out? What if Diana hadn’t died in that tragic car crash? What would it have been like at this moment for the world to have her as Great Britain's queen?

 

I have to take a moment and point out that for many people, including my husband, they couldn’t care less. “This doesn’t even affect us,” he says. My husband has been rolling his eyes for a few weeks now since Queen Elizabeth died. 

 

He couldn’t understand my desire to watch the coverage of King Charles becoming the official monarch and not wanting to miss the funeral of the queen. During the past couple of weeks, I have been surprised to find out just how much my husband doesn’t know about the royal family. (Maybe if he had watched the Netflix series The Crown three times, like I did,  he would be better equipped?)

 

My fascination with the royal family was so deep as a pre-teen, I made a scrap book when the former prince  came to Pittsburgh back in March of 1988. You know I had it bad if I turned one of my sticker books into this keepsake from his two day visit. (I was 12 at the time and Charles was 39 years old and quite the looker in my opinion.) I removed each scratch and sniff, hologram and puffy sticker to make room for pages of newspaper clippings telling the tale of his trip. 

 

He visited Steel Valley High School all those years ago and spent a total of 15 minutes in the school to tour their “Office of the Future” classroom. The school received funds to help revamp their business education curriculum and better prepare students for entering the job market. According to The Daily News clippings that line my scrapbook, the Steel Valley Marching Band played for the future king as he exited a Rolls Royce in front of the school. (I was so jealous of those kids!)

Charles visited the Mon Valley as part of his Remaking Cities Conference. This area, recovering from the decline of the steel industry, was a place rife with new possibilities. My favorite quote from one of the speeches he gave, during his visit, included the line, “ Let’s show the skeptics what can be achieved.” I think if King Charles ever makes his way back to Pittsburgh, he will be proud of what has become of the Steel City and encourage us to keep going. We now have amazing green space and the city has become known for its medical and technological industries. 

Now here we are, 34 years after that visit, and Charles is a king. As has been the case during the course of his lifetime he continues to be overshadowed by others - first his mother, then Diana, and now his son, William. Many people would prefer William as king with his lovely young family in tow. But Charles deserves his time in the spotlight for however long he is allowed. He has had years to fantasize about what kind of king he would be and now we get to sit back and watch.

 

So King Charles, the words you used many years ago seem aptly fitting now. 

Show the skeptics what you can achieve.