As long as she was here, as long as she persisted in full dutifulness to the role she was born to, we could say that there was at least one person in all the high offices of the West who manifested and maintained the ideal of dignity.
The word as well as the practice is a lost commodity these days, and has in so many ways been usurped by its polar opposite, vulgarity. Vulgarity is often the premise of fame, indeed how it’s purchased for many, and it has become a tidal force in all areas of public life. Should I begin to tabulate examples there would be no end. From television to fashion to business to universities to politics crude and vulgar rules, and that decayed ideal of dignity, dignity of person and conduct, save for the high example of Elizabeth II — is a ghost presence.
