Guidance on the arrangements for the mourning period and the State Funeral has been published on Gov.uk here and notification of the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, Monday 19 September as a Bank Holiday here.
During this time of national mourning, we have been reflecting on the extraordinary life and service of Her Majesty. It is a truism that the world has changed so much in the period of her life and reign. Most of us have known no other monarch and would find the world when she ascended to the throne almost unrecognisable.
We see that reflected in the changes in our own industry. Our fore-runner Association was still in its infancy in 1947 when the Queen was 21. The names of many of the members might still resonate but have since disappeared.
It was still a very different industry when in 1982 the Queen opened the Express Lift Company’s test tower in Northampton. The signed picture below, presented by the Express Lift Company to the Association, hangs in our offices to this day.
Her words broadcast on her 21st birthday (still some years before ascending to the throne) strike a particular chord at this time as we contemplate the arc of her life:
“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
Service, and the almost unimaginable commitment needed to deliver on that declaration, are perhaps seen as old-fashioned virtues. But they are needed more than ever in what sometimes feels a fractious and selfish world. The Queen’s example will always be relevant and hearteningly those virtues are at work quietly and unostentatiously in many walks of life.