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Todd Talks |
It's been a remarkable period for New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth as billions of us have reacted to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8. While it was inevitable we'd one day have to farewell Her Majesty, the enormity of the loss of our monarch has been felt widely.
Personally I've felt a strong sense of loss. Queen Elizabeth has always been a major influence for me and for my family. Growing up, we were very aware of the Queen, and her own family. Her values of determination, hard work and public service were reinforced to me by my grandparents, of the same generation, who were the Mayor and Mayoress of Te Aroha.
Queen Elizabeth visited NZ on a number of occasions and she clearly had great affection for our country and our people. When I worked at Parliament in 1995 I was involved in Queen Elizabeth's state visit and it was a great honour to meet Her Majesty at Government House. It was a brief conversation but a special moment that I hold dear and that I've reflected upon in the last fortnight.
For many of us, Her Majesty The Queen was the only monarch we've ever known and it's going to take some considerable time to get used to having a King as our Head of State. We'll now sing ‘God Save The King', refer to King's Counsels, rename holidays and create new honours. Eventually we'll see changes to our currency, passports and our coat of arms.
I'm looking forward to welcoming King Charles III on his first visit to NZ as our Head of State. In the meantime, I'm sure you will join me in wishing him well as he takes over his new role while also dealing with his own personal grieving process. God Save The King.
