Pride & Joy
Inspired by true story of Queen Elizabeth II & Princess Margaret.
The United Kingdom’s Late King George VI, father of the current Queen Elizabeth II and the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, regarded his daughter distinctively: pride and joy — Queen Elizabeth as a pride and Princess Margaret as a joy.
The Crown Netflix, S1E8, recalled the Late King George VI’s statement as “Elizabeth is my pride, but Margaret is my joy”.
The two sisters, surprisingly, have always wished to be one another. Queen Elizabeth II (a.k.a Elizabeth Regina) is said to always be calm, controlled with duty not only to respect the monarchy and rules of the Church of England, but also to not intervene, if not necessary, in her government’s initiatives and cabinets. She has served the crown since 1953 and is the highest and most respected woman in the kingdom, above everyone and below just God. Princess Margaret, on the other hand, did not like to play by the rules. She was unique with an inborn charm and was always passionate in being herself, letting her words spoken and enjoying the spotlight wherever she went. Even if she engaged herself less with royal duties, Princess Margaret had successfully made President Lyndon B. Johnson, the 37th president of the United States, approve the loan from IMF following the UK’s trade deficit of £800M in 1964.
Queen Elizabeth wished to be free and live as a normal royal member like Princess Margaret, while Princess Margaret wished to have full control of power like Queen Elizabeth.
In our lives, some people share similar traits as Queen Elizabeth, and some are like Princess Margaret. Many who are successful in career, highly respected and admired by people, seem to doubt their life as “lack of taste” or “dull”. These people wished to have some of their times for themselves and their beloved ones, and wished to not be on duty every minute of their day. Surprisingly, there are those who are like Princess Margaret, who had enough time and chance to enjoy her life, but wished to be engaged with more daunting tasks, hoping to add up into the meaning of life.
The point is, the grass is always greener on the other side. We never appreciate who we are or what we have, and tend to wish for the traits of other people, and vice versa. Maybe the true meaning of life isn’t to live as successful as someone else. Maybe the true meaning of life isn’t about having the perfect occupation or wealth. Maybe, above all, the true meaning of life isn’t always about reaching the destination, but cherishing the current moments while working for what we want, and simply accepting the fact that things don’t always work the way we want them, but are still absolutely fine.
Hence, do you consider yourself as a joy or a pride?
Further Reads:
- Dinning, R. (2021, March 1). The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 13 facts about Princess Margaret. HistoryExtra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/princess-margaret-facts-queen-elizabeth-royal-family-rebel-affair-crown-helena-bonham-carter/
- Her Majesty The Queen. The Royal Family. (2021, April 9). https://www.royal.uk/her-majesty-the-queen.
