A guiding light, a torch bearer, a trail blazer, a beacon. Aged 96, small and frail as she is, our Queen has never more powerfully embodied the metaphors so often used to describe her.
Her light has never faltered in 70 years, and rarely has it shone as brightly as it did on Thursday when, pushing age and mobility concerns aside, she illuminated both major events marking the advent of her Platinum Jubilee with a genuinely beaming smile.
And so it was fitting on Thursday evening a traditional train of almost 3,000 beacons were lit for her across the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK overseas territories, and 54 commonwealth capital cities, announced with true British gusto by town criers at 2pm, and set in motion by Her Majesty herself, who lit the principal beacon from Windsor Castle just after 9.30pm.
