Simon Erskine Locke, Founder & CEO of CommunicationsMatchTM

The Queen is dead. Long live the King.  

One era has ended and a new one has begun.  

As a Brit and an American, who has never been much of a fan of royalty, I have always had the greatest respect for Queen Elizabeth II – Britain’s longest-serving monarch.  

Her celebration of 70 years on the throne earlier this year was both remarkable for its longevity, but also the special place she held in the hearts of people on both sides of the Atlantic.  

When I became an American one of the things I had to do was to renounce any allegiance to foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty… in other words the Queen. With a certain fondness for her I have always joked that I kept my fingers crossed (I did not).   

It’s not as if the Queen was someone you would want to go to the pub and have a drink with. The stiffness of the royal persona, no doubt reflected the burden of the crown and the aristocratic bearing required of it. 

But the stories from her reign that started with the ascent of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, saw the landing on the Moon, that continued through wars and family tragedies, into a new century of technology and social media have continued to fascinate – as underscored by the global popularity of Netflix’s The Crown.

As head of a Royal Family whose lives, exploits and scandals have generated headlines, the Queen was boringly regal, elegant, stable and reliable – a rock for a nation that at times has needed one. She did not run the nation or save it from calamity, but was always an important, consequential and soothing presence. And in doing so, she likely saved the monarchy as an institution at least through the next generation of King Charles III.   

As one era passes, I am reminded that in our industry we are also going through generation change and the importance of legacy. The industry leaders when I started my career have either passed away, retired or are heading towards hanging up their spurs. 

Time waits for no man or woman - be they Queen or King. It rolls on with an inevitability that we only truly begin to fathom later in our lives. But legacies do live on – be they in the shape of the companies we create, the differences we make, the people we help, or institutions we save. 

Lives well lived – like that of Queen Elizabeth II – are things to celebrate and emulate on our own journeys.

May she rest in peace.  

About the Author: Simon Erskine Locke is founder & CEO of communications agency and professional search and services platform, CommunicationsMatch™, and a regular contributor to CommPRO.biz.