Podcast Episode #110: Why Did 4.3 Billion People Watch the Queen’s Funeral?
For most of us, she was not OUR Queen, and yet somehow, she was. She touched us all with her grace, her commitment to what she felt was her purpose in life, her faith, her positivity, and willingness to look at all sides of every situation. As a woman, she was also a mother, wife and daughter who had to balance those roles with a big, hugely important lifelong career.
Her impact on the world was still a shock for so many who thought they knew what people wanted or were passionate about in our world. When 4.3 billion people watched regardless of their faith, color, economic circumstance, and country, it all made us think. What was it about the Queen that had us glued to our screens?
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Podcast Episode #110: Why Did 4.3 Billion People Watch the Queen’s Funeral?
Hello everyone and welcome to the EW podcast, and this is episode #110.
Today, I am going to talk about the Queen, and we all know that means Queen Elizabeth II.
It was reported that 4.3 BILLION people watched the Queen’s funeral- the biggest globally watched event in the history of the world.
No one expected this. Social media downgraded the event over and over. So, if you think social media has the pulse of the thoughts and feelings of the masses of real people on this planet, the Queen’s funeral is a good reminder that social media is often just the very loud voices of a few.
All of those invited world leaders, dignitaries and royalty arrived and quietly accepted their seats and transportation to Westminster Abbey. Amazing given most were driven to the funeral in what were essentially school buses.
For one day, they seemed to all want to make Queen Elizabeth proud.
Like me, you might have found yourself in tears not only during the funeral but all through the photos and stories we watched on our screens in the days leading up to the funeral. For most of us, she was not OUR Queen, and yet, somehow, she was. She touched us all with her grace, her commitment to what she felt was her purpose in life, her faith, her positivity, and willingness to look at all sides of every situation. As a woman, she was also a mother, wife and daughter who had to balance those roles with a big, hugely important lifelong career.
Her impact on the world was still a shock for some many who thought they knew what people wanted or were passionate about in our world. When 4.3 billion people watched regardless of their faith, color, economic circumstance, and country, it all made us think. What was it about the Queen, which had us glued to our screens?
First, I think she inspired us to be better, do better, think of ourselves less. She was never on a podcast, didn’t write a single book, never did an interview and obviously not one Ted Talk. Instead, she inspired us by how she lived. I don’t know about you, but I want to incorporate more of her lessons into my own life and business.
Let’s start with that never complain mantra…. That was a hard one for me to wrap my head around. I do this podcast and in many of the episodes, I’m sharing events of my past from which I’ve learned my greatest lessons. But I have a hunch, I have been complaining a bit. So, now I’m asking myself the hard questions…could those lessons learned be differently expressed, could I come from a more positive perspective? Is there a more joy filled way for me to share my lessons learned? Stay tuned, I’m working on it.
Queen Elizabeth possessed a positivity that sometimes drove us who like action- a little crazy. She had a faith in her children and grandchildren that at times I thought was delusional, but was it really? What if I embrace positivity rather than feeling the need to always point out the hard realities? What if I just stop complaining? That new awareness has me catching myself, counting those complaints I casually toss out in my average day…. the weather, the traffic, travel disruptions, politicians, computer technology. You name it, I complain about it.
Well, enough is enough. Throughout her life, the Queen focused on looking at the positives and never publicly complained about anything in her life. Maybe she didn’t really want to be the Queen. Maybe she had really wanted to live a quiet life filled with dogs, horses, family, and friends. We don’t know do we because she didn’t complain.
Now, some of you might be saying, but she was the Queen and had all that money, jewels, homes, and castles anyone could ever want.
Let’s look at the job of being Queen a little closer…
How many of us would want to dress up every single day? Her engagement calendar was full and that meant, she had to dress up, put on the tights, wear the shoes with heels, put on lipstick along with a smile on her face even though she might have preferred to wear jodhpurs, boots and a dirty coat and hang out in the horse barn.
Me? Even when I’m dressed up, I like to call my style elegant comfort, which is sometimes a pseudonym for elastic waists and billowy shirts. I haven’t put my feet into my Prada pumps for possibly a decade and the thought of doing so day after day, makes me want to throw those shoes out the window. Pantihose? I can’t remember when I last wore pantihose. I don’t even know where to buy pantihose.
Yet, the Queen dressed up every day for her people. Her job.
Well, it got me thinking…what if dressing up a bit more is really a reflection of how much I respect the people I meet during the day. Not just the friend I’m meeting for diner but the check-out lady at the grocery store, the Starbucks barista, the bookstore clerk. What if how I dress says to the world around me, you matter. Parisians believe that when you respect yourself, you respect others.
Suddenly, I’ve realized that I dress up more when I’m in Paris. As my perspective has shifted, that is now going to change.
I can do better.
And then there are the photos. When I look at photos of myself as a young woman and the recent photos of myself as I look today, I would never ever want those photos to be seen by anyone outside of my family and good friends. Where did my waist go?? What has happened to my neck? Yet, the Queen had to see her droopy neck in portraits and even on the face of currency.
Positivity? Yep. I’m embracing it again. Rather than pointing out what is sagging and fading. When I see myself in a mirror or a photo, I’m going to reflect upon what is still looking pretty good. Just four days before her death, the Queen dressed up, had on her typical lipstick and a smile when she met the new prime minister of the UK. Stop complaining Sharri and just get on with it. Let’s all be happy we are still here!
And then there are the kids. Would I want to have every one of my child’s poor decisions be discussed by the world as a reflection of my mothering skills?
Difficult to say the least. We all tried to be the best mothers we could be, but were we perfect? No. We were human and so are our children and even those grandchildren have their own journeys. I’m going to listen more and turn off any judgements that are going on- even the ones I keep inside my head.
I can do better.
Now…. can we talk about the houses? As you all know, I love houses. I love HGTV, recently magnolia home and almost every other decorating or renovation show on television or YouTube. I love all sorts of styles and colors and I like redoing and updating.
After the Queen died, I realized there would be some shuffling of homes and palaces between family members. At first, I thought, cool, I wonder which castle or home I’d like?
Then I remembered….
What if the only houses I could choose from were all drafty old places that my ancestors had bought generations ago? What if the color redo I was craving was not happening because it was going to cost millions!! Depressing!
Now King Charles and I are kindred spirits in this love of houses and garden. But I toured Clarence House after his renovation following the death of his grandmother, and though it was pretty, it was still a big, somewhat cold, old stone mansion with problems lurking behind every door and curtain.
Old houses are fantastic until they are not. I learned there are always issues so if you love old homes, you must love their issues. As you know, my first condo in Boston after my divorce was in the back bay. It was a gorgeously renovated old brownstone built in the mid-1800’s. Because it was renovated, I thought, yippee- NO issues! Yet, there were ongoing issues. There was a constant leak into the unit above me that no matter how much money we spent on experts, could never be clearly resolved as to the source of the problem. There were mice and rats in the back alley that needed to be kept in check, windows that were not tight even though they were new because they had to meet the rules of what was acceptable in this historic home and that meant single pane. I can’t imagine what happens inside a castle built in the 17th century!
So, the next time I imagine how perfectly someone else’s life must be based on their IG photos and followers, or that photo of chateau living, or their website… and find myself wishing I had their successes, I’m going to remind myself, I don’t really know anything else about their lives so stop making assumptions. What do I really know is true about the person or people who are inside that IG page, house, or château? Nothing.
I can do better.
Next, it was obvious that the Queen was an expert in making every person she crossed paths with feel they mattered whether they were an hourly worker at the local supermarket or the President of a country. Do I do that? Am I sometimes so preoccupied with my life that I don’t see the Amazon delivery guy is who is at my door soaked through because it’s raining outside, or the gal at the check-out counter in the grocery store who seems bored with her job, or the tired shop keeper who unbeknown to me showed up for work even though her child was sick because she needed the money.
The queen didn’t treat the everyday people she met any differently than when she met the president of United States. To her, they were equally important.
I can do better.
On a daily basis, yes, the Queen met ordinary people who were working hard to keep food on the table and kids healthy, but she also met with presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and politicians. Therefore, she had to keep herself educated in the politics, economics, and social changes not only in the UK but also the world but with a clear and open mind.
So, how can we keep ourselves educated about the events in our countries and the world but not be so righteous? So sure that I am right? I’m thinking I must listen more … and constantly be willing to hear input from all sides of every argument. Nothing is ever just this or that.
So instead of always being sure, I’m going to try to see issues I’m feeling passionate about from a variety of viewpoints. Go to some events, read articles that are outside of my comfort zone to hear the stories of the people who are not inside my bubble.
I can do better.
The biggest of all…the Queen kept her promises.
At twenty-one The Queen said, “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.” To your service…. wouldn’t that be a great mission of our politicians…. instead of building their legacies and creating personal huge wealth.
But beyond the politicians, how do we view our own promises? What about those promises we make to ourselves? The promises we make to others?
Promises are not some casual statements said in the moment. What if we make our promises our compasses, guiding the way we choose to make decisions in our lives?
I can do better.
Last, the Queen was 96 years old when she passed. Was she ever invisible or irrelevant?
No. Why? Well, partially because she WAS the Queen, but she could have retired a decade ago and hidden away in one of castles. Instead, the Queen was doing her job, right up until a few days before her death.
This tugs at my own self-consciousness at being a woman of a certain age. Now you and I don’t have one lifelong job that we must keep doing, but I’m going to suggest we do need to have a purpose right up to the end and luckily for us our purpose can change.
I learned though, it doesn’t take much for us to question our relevance, say this is too hard. Recently, I got Covid, or I think it was Covid. One day I was out for dinner with a lovely group of ladies touring with Sandra Sigman of Les Fleurs and the next day I was in bed feeling like I had been hit by a truck.
Laying on the sofa too sick to read, I had an abundance of time to think. I began to feel a little sorry for myself. One thing led to another, and I thought maybe I’d been on the wrong path these past few years. Maybe it was time to abandon my dream, give it up, learn to play bridge, pretend I like to exercise instead of all this dream pursuing business. How silly of me to start this Extraordinary Women business.
Then, Queen Elizabeth entered my mindset. She was the Queen of England, Scotland Wales, and Northern Ireland, and I’m creating a little magazine business for women like you and me. So, get it together Sharri. Stop moping. You don’t have to become irrelevant unless you choose that for yourself. You’ll have lots of years to learn bridge, but now is not the time.
I can do better.
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