Queen Elizabeth II was the final bulwark against the forces now destroying Britain - Lee Cohen

Lee Cohen
Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:42:48 +0000
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As an American who has spent much of my career working to strengthen the bonds between our two nations, I watch with both admiration and concern as Britain marks what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday on 21 April 2026.

Four years after her passing, the challenges facing your country have multiplied – many of them the direct result of the horrible Britain-last Starmer Government.

Open borders, economic stagnation, eroded national confidence, and a foreign policy that too often puts Brussels and globalist priorities ahead of British interests have left the nation feeling adrift.

Yet in these testing times, one institution stands apart as Britain’s most potent diplomatic tool: the Monarchy itself. Whatever domestic pressures King Charles faces, his State Visit to Washington at the end of this month shows how the Crown continues to keep the Special Relationship on track.

President Trump’s deep respect for Queen Elizabeth, for her son, and for the institution could not be clearer. His personal enthusiasm and warm anticipation for the King’s arrival in DC on 27 April – complete with a White House state dinner and address to Congress – speak volumes.

I felt the unique power of that continuity more than most Americans. In 2007, during Her Majesty’s State Visit, her last to the USA, I was invited as an honoured guest to the Garden Party at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

I was then the UK policy adviser to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and founder of the Congressional U.K. Caucus.

Official Washington turned out in force – senators, diplomats, journalists – even veteran actor Mickey Rooney made a cameo.

With great orchestral fanfare, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh appeared. I expected only a distant glimpse of these living legends I had studied for decades.

Then, to my astonishment, I was presented to the Royal Couple. Ambassador Sir David Manning whispered my role with the Caucus.

Defying the protocol briefing that Americans do not bow, I simply extended my hand. Her Majesty returned the gesture with a warm smile. I will never forget the satiny feel of her gloved handshake – for her, one of millions; for me, unforgettable.

Over the years, I have written thousands of published words trying to capture what makes even the leaders of global superpowers feel humbled in her presence.

Then I experienced it myself. It was in part her quiet dignity, her signature hat, the unmistakable sense that you stood before someone who had taken quasi-religious vows to serve – for life.

She embodied the promise made on her 21st birthday in 1947: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

Fortunately, it was long – 96 remarkable years, 70 of them as Queen. She never wavered. In an age when public figures chase celebrity, the monarchy under Elizabeth II refused to become mere entertainment.

She understood that to be seen was to serve. “I have to be seen to be believed,” she once said. Meeting her, you felt the full weight of that duty: a woman who sacrificed private life so the institution could endure.

Born in 1926, she came of age during the Blitz, joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and steered the monarchy through the end of empire, the Swinging Sixties, the troubles in Northern Ireland, EU membership and Brexit, and the digital revolution.

She remained the still point in a turning world – a living link to Britain’s past and a steady hand on its future. To Americans like me, she personified the constitutional principles of freedom, stability and service that helped inspire the United States itself.

Since her death in September 2022, that steady hand has been sorely missed. Britain has faced wave after wave of difficulty – many of them exacerbated, or even caused, by the Starmer Government’s Britain-last approach.

Yet the monarchy has continued to do what it has always done best: provide continuity and quiet strength when politicians falter.

Though many have issues with the King, he has taken up his mother’s mantle with characteristic devotion. And nowhere is that more evident than in the realm of diplomacy.

The British Monarch remains your single most potent diplomatic asset – above party politics, above the daily grind of Westminster, and respected across the globe in a way no elected leader can match.

President Trump’s enthusiasm for the King’s State Visit later this month proves the point. Trump has long spoken with genuine affection for Queen Elizabeth, for the institution she embodied, and for the Special Relationship she nurtured.

His anticipation of hosting King Charles and Queen Camilla in Washington is not mere protocol. It is a deliberate reaffirmation of the historic bond between our nations at a moment when the Starmer government’s choices have strained it.

The monarchy is stepping in where politics has stumbled, keeping the alliance on track precisely because Trump respects the Crown as something timeless and honourable – an institution that puts Britain and its allies first.

I will carry the memory of meeting Queen Elizabeth my whole life long. But even those who never met her know the blessings she bestowed.

She reminded us that no matter the crisis – war, economic turmoil, social division – better days lie ahead if we hold fast to duty, faith and country. Life goes on, as she would insist.

Yet on this centenary, we rightly celebrate a sovereign whose life of service set the gold standard for a generation.

Britain was fortunate beyond measure to have had her. Thanks to the enduring example she set, and to the quiet diplomatic power her successors now wield, you still are.

The Queen’s example endures. God Save the King, the Prince of Wales, and all who follow them. And long may we remember Elizabeth Regina.