The original Boss Lady, she never delegated the intellectual aspects of her role to a man. Photo / Getty Images
The original Boss Lady, she never delegated the intellectual aspects of her role to a man. Photo / Getty Images
Last weekend began history-making celebrations, acknowledging Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne 70 years ago. As a 95-year-old, the Queen has been on the scene for nearly all of our entire lives. Contrary to what you may think, she is a woman ahead of her time, with many aspects about her making her surprisingly relatable to modern women.
Boss Lady
The Queen is the original Boss Lady. Long before women were working the way we do now, she was. When women were wearing Dior New Look-style dresses to welcome their husbands home from a day at the office, The Queen was at the office, across the daily machinations of Great Britain. Her role is non-political, but there is no questioning her commitment to the red boxes that are placed on her desk daily, acquainting herself with the happenings at Parliament and keeping abreast of international matters which could affect the United Kingdom and beyond. A trailblazer, she never delegated the intellectual aspects of her role to a man, and anyone who holds the same position within an organisation for 70 years deserves to be applauded.
Oft referred to for black and white dressing, monochrome in fact means dressing in one colour. Here the Queen reigns supreme. Monochrome and colour-blocking are not for the faint hearted, instead screaming confidence: think Kim Kardashian in her hot pink SNL cat suit. In the wearer not needing sartorial validation by offering many aspects of an outfit to garner our attention, wearing only one colour, furthermore not black, shows strength and certainty. The Queen is a fashion icon in herself.
In times past, regular people barely saw the Royal Family. Nowadays it's a carefully orchestrated and constant job to be seen in the flesh and in the media by as many regular people as possible, in an effort to keep the family business afloat. At times, the Queen has deemed the brand more important than the individual players; Princess Margaret and Prince Charles were both forbidden to marry at certain times for fear of damaging the brand. The public has oscillated between vilifying the Queen for not being as loving and warm as they think she ought to be, yet also being upset with her for showing loyalty to her own flesh and blood in times of trouble. Our family struggles may not be on the same world stage nor may we have as much at stake, but it's proof the balance between family and career affects women in even the highest echelons of society.
The Queen with two of her four children, Charles and Anne, in 1952. Photo / Getty Images
Never complain, never explain
Imagine the bandwidth we'd free up if we didn't complain nor experience clients, friends and family complaining to us. Although not the intended use of the phrase and maybe a little heartless, this interpretation holds relevant for the times. As for explaining, women offer too many explanations about decisions and answers, as if saying no simply isn't enough. We garnish our decisions with agonisingly extensive reasons in fear of causing offence. Never complain, never explain. Put that one in your handbag, because we are still fighting for pockets, for future reference.
It is with immense admiration that we should celebrate the Queen, a woman who has woken up with the same objective for her day for 70 years, and who continues to show up when virtually every one of us would be sitting back in a comfortable chair with our feet up, cup of tea and biscuits at hand. Long live the Queen, and thank you for the examples of conduct, service and humility that we can look to for our own lives.
