A very Happy Anniversary...

Today is the 66th Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. 66 years is no mean feat for any couple, although it does seem that people of the older generation stay married a lot longer than today's crowd, and there are probably many reasons for that. Maybe people today rush to get married because it seems like a good excuse for a new piece of jewellery and a party? Or maybe a lot of the older generation would have got divorced if it had been more accepted back in the day, instead of the "you've made your bed now you must lie in it" attitude that was more prevalent.
Either way, the Queen and her husband are an inspiration to us all in many ways. Yes they have staff to cook and clean for them and more besides, and they certainly don't have the financial worries that most of the rest of us do, but they also have the world watching them, so they have had more pressures than many. Despite this, and despite the ups and downs of their life together, they appear a happy and strong couple. The Queen has done her best to ensure that her husband didn't feel like just an appendage, and he in turn has been a constant support and source of strength to her.
They are both remarkably down to earth people, and don't buy each other extravagant gifts (what could you buy someone who already has a crown anyway?) although I remember when I used to work at Buckingham Palace and my then boyfriend who was a footman had gone to the side door of the palace to collect a bouquet of flowers that had been delivered there. The bouquet was a gift from the Duke of Edinburgh to the Queen and consisted of 100 perfect, beautiful, white roses, and the entire bouquet was about 4 feet in length! I cannot remember now if this was a gift for the Queen's birthday or their Wedding Anniversary, but no matter-How utterly romantic......
They remind me of my own grandparents-they met when my Grandad was 13 and my Gran was 14 and they lived next door to each other. They married during the Second World War and after the war ended, they were only parted when my Grandad died, after 69 years together. "Indian Summer" was their song, and every year on their Wedding Anniversary my Grandad would make my Gran breakfast and bring it to her in bed, and play this beautiful song. For their Golden Anniversary he bought her a beautiful gold bangle and had "Indian Summer" engraved in it.
After he died, I and my mother had gone to stay with my Gran and help her with the arrangements for his funeral. She was choosing music she wanted to be played at the funeral, and of course this song was a must. We found her cd and played it to make sure it worked, and I will never forget hearing this song play for the first time in the cosy flat they had shared together. I was prepared for my Gran's tears, but none came. I looked at her to make sure she was ok, but she was no longer in that room with me. Her physical self was of course, tiny and familiar, the buttons on her blouse done up askew because her vision and her hands are not what they were, but her eyes had a faraway look in them, and I know that in her mind she was in another time and place, in the arms of the man who had loved and looked after her for so many years. Some people never, ever get to experience this kind of love, companionship and support, so those that do should be envied and admired.

So, a very Happy Wedding Anniversary to the Queen and her Duke, and much, much love and admiration for my lovely beautiful Gran, and her clever and handsome husband, my Grandad, much missed by all.

Summer, you old Indian Summer
you're the tear that comes after June times laughter
You see so many dreams that don't come true
Dreams we fashioned when summertime was new
You are here to watch over
Some heart that is broken
By a word that somebody left unspoken
you're the ghost of a romance in June
Going astray, fading too soon...
that's why I say,
"Farewell to you, Indian Summer!"