By Barbara Simpson, Sarnia Observer written
For Anita Hobbs, Queen Elizabeth II holds a special place in her heart.
Growing up in London, England, Hobbs – now a British expat-turned-Sarnia-resident – was just a young girl like then-Princess Elizabeth when The Blitz – an eight-month period of bombing – rattled the country during the Second World War.
Instead of hiding, Hobbs recalls Princess Elizabeth’s parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth bravely staying put in London.
“They were there, they weren’t in a shelter somewhere, they were there out in the streets and visiting the people at the places that were bombed terribly and in the hospitals where people were injured,” she said.
And for Hobbs, that image of a compassionate Royal Family has lived on decades later thanks to their daughter who would go on to make her own history.
On Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in Britain’s history, surpassing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria’s record – 63 years and seven months – set more than a century ago.
And despite the distance to Buckingham Palace, Sarnia has shared a special connection with Queen Elizabeth II during the course of her reign.
More than 100,000 people flocked to see a young Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip pay a visit to Sarnia on July 3, 1959. They toured the city inside a plastic-domed car, stopped for a ceremony at Canatara Park and later climbed aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia waiting at the Imperial Oil dock along the St. Clair River.
Point Edward resident Pauline Kirkland went to her grandmother’s house to watch the parade heading along Christina Street North.
“I remember going there and seeing the queen go by in the car,” the now 83-year-old said. “We went up to the waterfront and she went on the [Royal Yacht] Britannia.”
Decades later, Kirkland is still interested in the goings-on of the Royal Family, collecting newspaper clippings about the family’s matriarch.
“I just like her,” Kirkland said. “She’s had ordinary problems and she’s dealt with them.”
Aside from national security and economic challenges, Queen Elizabeth II has also faced several personal issues in the public eye during her reign: the marriages of three of her children ending in divorce, the death of Princess Diana and, in more recent years, the reports of a misbehaving Prince Harry.
“I just feel she has a very difficult job that I don’t think most of us want to begin to even tackle,” Hobbs said. “She’s done it well and with grace. She’s got a tremendous sense of humour.”
At the age of 21, Hobbs, a classically-trained ballet dancer, met Queen Elizabeth II through the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
A patron of the academy, Queen Elizabeth met with about 300 graduates in Windsor Castle.
“I was only five-foot-two and I’ve shrunk since then, but she was smaller than I was, which was surprising,” Hobbs recalled. “There are so many people that they don’t have time to stop and chat for a long time, but she knew when she was speaking and when she was meeting the few of us that were graduating, she knew a great deal about what we’d been through and what the training had been.”
The Queen’s approachable nature has been a hallmark of her ongoing reign, Hobbs noted, adding she always receives a letter back from Buckingham Palace when she hosts royal teas to mark milestones of the monarchy.
Other Sarnia residents have also been on the receiving end of royal letters through the years for their efforts to honour the family.
“It’s a gift that she has,” Hobbs said of the queen’s warm nature. “Her mother had it. I guess she came by it in the genes.”