Wednesday 21 September 2022 06:08 PM Sussan Ley writes: The Queen's death will drive debate about the Republic trends now
When I was a 10-year-old at my cold English boarding school, I learned in History, that 'the sun never sets on the British Empire.'
It is something that stuck in my mind when I first met the Queen, as a young girl at Buckingham Palace.
My dad was there to receive a medal for his services to that British Empire.
Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley says her father was a spy who worked in the service of the late Queen and the British empire
He was an intelligence officer (spy) who worked for Queen and Country and had done his bit to keep the sun shining across Her Majesty's vast global realms, including Australia.
An empire on which the sun never sets is a phrase that has been reserved for the great global empires of world history.
The Persian tyrant Xerxes I coined the phrase before he invaded Ancient Greece to extend his conquests and fought the legendary King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans.
But it wasn't just the Ancients and the Brits that have laid claim to global empire.
The Spanish and the United States are in the mix as well.
In 1897 a magazine article titled 'The Greatest Nation on Earth' boasted that the sun never sets on Uncle Sam.
Ms Ley writes that it is 'absolutely right that we mark a historic moment' such as the passing of the long-serving English monarch
But as the sun sets on the second Elizabethan Age and we farewell the beloved Queen Elizabeth II, here in Australia what are we to make of all this talk of Empires and Realms; of Kings, Queens and Consorts?
Because in truth, this vast sunburnt country seems a world away from notions of empires and kings.
To Australians, Earl is just another name, like Mick or Steve. And a Marquis is something you rent for a 50th.
You might find yourself asking the question, why should I care?
Well, it is absolutely right that we mark a historic moment such as this.
It is absolutely right that we mark the extraordinary life and service of the late Queen.
Queen Elizabeth's reign spanned British prime ministers born over a century apart
We are living through historic times and there is perhaps no better example than the life of the Queen.
The second Elizabethan Age captures some of the most significant decades of human history.
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It is hard for us to fathom the breadth and pace of change, throughout the Queen's life.
The Queen's reign spanned Prime Ministers from Winston Churchill born in 1874 to Liz Truss, sworn in
