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It seemed an extraordinary double coincidence. Not only had my cousin Flora and I discovered we shared the same Granny, but we even shared the same Queen! To our five year old minds she was ours as our grandmother was: not intimately loved like our parents perhaps, but deeply respected, admired and almost close enough to touch. Even now, I feel a proprietary pleasure. Curious, since none of my Queen’s achievements (or my grandmother’s) could be linked to any merit of mine. Nonetheless when foreign friends admire her, I feel a little taller. And since three of our most shining – and longest reigning – monarchs have all been female despite the disadvantage of male primogeniture, I feel further pride. “All the women in history have been men. Discuss.” And what Princes they have been! Her Majesty shares much with her two impressive predecessors. Most obviously that none was expected to rule as a child. In this – as in much – they were like the sovereign which all three bowed the knee to. Although each was descended from a royal line and historically ordained to greatness by birth, none was reared with any contemporary public expectation of a royal future. Unlike a democratically elected leader, one chosen by blood isn’t there because of any burning ambition. Rather, dominion comes about because of destiny and duty, not desire. Politicians must be hungry for leadership and strive for it. A monarch leads not because of wanting to, but because of what’s described as being called to it by Providence. Consequently, a crowned head can embody the principle that authority epitomises service not supremacy. The one who is greatest among you must be least, and the ruler must be the servant. I didn’t come to be served but to serve, and give my life for many. The young Queen echoed this. “My whole life,” she said, “whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service... God help me to make good my vow.” The promise has been kept, without an iota of wavering. Impossible for us to know how great the sacrifices have been, but there have been sacrifices certainly: of private life, personal opinions and ordinary family freedoms. Like one who had to escape into the wilderness to be alone, a royal personage seldom has the solitude even of a closed door or private room. And the sovereign has influence rather than power, the force of example rather than the example of force. It is a moral and spiritual leadership, not one of law or might. Like other leaders – Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Mandela – the overwhelming mark left on history will prove to be one of inspired following rather than coercive constraint. Unlike the elected politician’s, the royal role is for life: a question of being, not of doing. There is no retirement nor rest from it. It is for ever. Small wonder it is daunting. And that the greatest example is to say, “Not my will, but thine be done.”