Elizabeth the Great. Britain’s late queen remembered in thanksgiving service in Bucharest

Thanksgiving service for Queen Elizabeth II. Fthr. Nevsky Everett stands in from of altar. Photo credit: Clotilda Lopez
Thanksgiving service for Queen Elizabeth II. Fthr. Nevsky Everett stands in from of altar. Photo credit: Clotilda Lopez

Britain’s late and beloved Queen Elizabeth II has been remembered in a service of thanksgiving in the Anglican Church of Bucharest.

Encouragement

The Sunday afternoon service was led by Church chaplain Fthr. Nevsky Everett who recalled her long life of service and Christian faith saying it could be an  encouragement and inspiration to all.

Choir music and tributes featured in the service which had gravitas but also personal notes, including mention of her „irreverent and impish sense of humour.”  (Ambassador Andrew Noble).

The Queen died on Sept. 8 in Balmoral Castle aged 96 after a reign of 70 years. She was the longest-serving British monarch and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a role now held by her son, King Charles III.

Funeral

Prince Radu, who attended the Queen’s Sept. 19 funeral in London, Fthr Michael Tiţa, the Romanian’s Orthodox Church’s representative for inter-Christian and inter-religious relations, ambassadors and dozens of Britons and Romanians gathered for the service at the red-bricked Church of the Resurrection.

Ambassador Noble, who conducted the choir, recalled meeting the Queen on several occasions during his 40-year diplomatic career, calling her  “The Queen, My Queen”.

“It was one of the greatest privileges of my life to have known Her Majesty the Queen a little bit,” the Ambassador said. “In her conversation of course she was serious of course, brilliantly informed by her own relevant experiences, but also humorous,” he recalled.

On one occasion, he met the Queen in 1995, following a State Visit to South Africa, a landmark visit after the end of apartheid. At the end of the visit, he was presented with a medal by Her Majesty and the cufflinks both of which he wore on Sunday.

„The thing that I will treasure was the discovery of Her Majesty’s sense of humour; that was what I least expected and will most remember….. I’m so glad that we can all share in those brilliant TV moments with Daniel Craig (who plays James Bond) at the London Olympics and the famous marmalade sandwich moment with Paddington Bear,” he said.

http://

Unique leader

Prince Radu said he was „very grateful that we are here together to remember such an exceptional human being and such a unique leader of our times.”

“I simply don’t remember anything related to the virtues or the principles of the Crown that could not be related to her or to our own late King Michael I.”

His most touching memory was a letter he and Princess Margareta, the Custodian of the Crown, received from the Queen. But it wasn’t the contents of the letter that moved him, but the fact that she had handwritten the address herself, using the Romanian spelling: “București, România”.

Mass for Peace

The choir opened the service with the introit, ‘Kontakion  of the Dead’, a setting in English of an Orthodox hymn for the departed. They also sung the final movement of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins.

The service ended with the National Anthem “God save our gracious king,” sung joyously, though tinged by sorrow.

Romanian President Iohannis to attend funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

 

LĂSAȚI UN MESAJ

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here