My adult children sometimes have long-term memory loss. Because they would say things like: they never had MacDonald Birthday Parties like other kids! Well, well, we found this photos from other people's iPod and on our phone. It was September 2001, Elliot's 5th Birthday Party !
Copied from Social Media, an inspirational testimony from a retired principal, he retired at 55 and after 40 years, he was celebrating his 94 birthday. This was his sharing on how to have healthy and happy life.
輔大校長楊敦和所寫的這篇好文，值得珍藏及一讀再讀文20230710
《怎樣減少病痛,過得健康愉快？》
我從55歲退休到今年94歲,已快40年了。這些年來我身體一直很好。是怎樣做到的呢？
1、知識就是健康最好的保障，醫生就是自己。
人的健康由三個方面的因素形成:
第一遺傳佔三分之一，
第二是鍛鍊和養生，
第三是生活習慣。
例如:抽煙喝酒熬夜都會損害健康。
人到70歲以後,才正是老年。老人一定要注意學習吸收醫學保健知識。
此外,要全面瞭解自己身體狀況！綜合分析自己的問題是什麼？摸索其中的規律。思考解決問題的辦法與措施。
有些老人沒有自己的健康主張,動不動就看醫生,亂吃藥。其實醫生也是聽你陳述、下藥。再說,各科醫生也只能(頭痛醫頭腳痛醫腳)無法對症下藥、掌握你的全面情況。所以要靠自己,而不要盲目依靠醫生。
俗話說:「久病成良醫」，我的體會是,身體是自己的,最好的保健醫生其實是自己。冷暖痛癢自己最清楚,運動健身只有靠自己堅持,心理健康也靠自己調整。
1、任何企圖依靠他人養老的夢想都會落空！再好的醫生、再負責任的保姆或再孝順的子女,都靠不得。
2、要有毅力,做自己應該做的,而不是只做自己喜歡做的。
我堅持生活自理,至今自己買菜、做飯、洗碗、散步、自己洗貼身衣物。
當然也累,也不方便,其實我可以讓保姆做。但只要一開始不做,以後就再也做不了!我非到萬不得已就不開這個頭。這樣一直堅持至今依然如此。
3、精神上要有境界,文化生活要豐富。
現代老年人太寂寞,盼望兒女回家看望。國家都有「常回家看看」的法律規定,但我不需要。
我關心時事,對文學、哲學、天文地理、戲劇體育都有興趣。我建立了自己的學習計劃和生活規律,每天都很忙碌,但心裡平靜充實。
你喜歡做什麼？就去做！盡量把自己時間安排緊一點,每天都有事做,有做不完的工作。這樣就不會感到寂寞了！此外我還有個辦法！就是家裡不要太寂靜。要經常開著電視或收音機,好像有人與你說話、對你唱歌,就不會感到孤獨。
我有三個孩子每週都回來看我。我兒子離我挺遠,我不要他每週都來,就對我女兒說：跟你哥說一下！不用每週回來,打個電話就行了！他後來兩週回來一次。我平時過得很充實、愉快,不希望別人來干擾我。老年人要熱愛生活,關心時事,心胸開闊,心情舒暢。遇到疾病就能頂住了！
個人的目標在爭取在人生的最後階段「走得快一點」,既減少自己的痛苦,也盡量避免給他人造成的負擔。人人都希望晚年走得快一些,但死生有命、可以事在人為嗎？
我認為,要想「走的快一點」首先要做好「走」的思想準備,該走的時候乾脆、無牽掛、無遺憾。告訴你我的體會：
1、不怕死
我前年尿血,在醫院檢查發現左腎上有個腫瘤,疑似癌症,醫生和家屬都主張手術切除。我不同意。我說:我已92歲了！將來走、不一定是因這個腫瘤。
即便是這個原因,動手術後 又出現其他病。那何必呢？兩年來沒有任何感覺。
現在我乾脆就不去檢查了!不管它變大或小了！該怎樣就怎樣。已經兩年了我一直與癌症「和平共處」。
現在既沒有什麼感覺,也沒有精神負擔,每天生活得很充實,很有質量。
任何事情只要想得開,就會戰勝它。當然 如果將來真是癌症發作的話,後期會很疼,我就留一筆錢打止痛針。
我對女兒說:將來我昏迷了就不用打了!沒有知覺了還打它幹嘛」走人 就完了嘛！
人的壽數到了,就要順其自然,犯了病還搶救他幹嘛？身體功能衰竭了!無疾而終,順其自然,這是福氣呀！你說不是嗎？
老來不怕死,就活得輕鬆,生活質量就高。我就是懷著這種心態一天一天活過來的。
事實證明越是不怕死,就越是死不了！我現在已經94歲了！中國人的平均壽命才72歲，台灣人的平均壽命是82歲。哈哈，我都超過了！感覺自己已經賺的太多了！
2、不愛錢
許多老人越是到了晚年,越是錙銖必較,把錢摳的緊緊的。他們真是沒想明白呀！我現在每個月只花幾千元，退休金根本花不完！所以孩子們來看我、我都自掏腰包請他們吃飯。兒女過六十歲生日,我每人送上一萬元。
自己也就這幾十萬元的存款,等我死了兒女們繼承,他們認為是理所當然的,也不會感激我。
不如現在就拿出來給大家共享！皆大歡喜,何樂而不為呢？哈哈！
3、放下自我
現在很多老人想問題只從自己出發,總覺得別人對不住自己。或是政府對不起自己！或同事或兒女對自己照顧不周,特別是兒媳婦又如何虧欠了自己。
內心總是不愉快,何必呢？要想得開,就一定要放下自我,換位思維。
不要認為把兒女撫養大,兒女就應該回報你！兒女有兒女的事情，哪有那麼多時間陪著你？回想一下！自己的父母在世時,你曾去陪伴了多久？照顧了多少？我從不要求兒女來陪我。
我生活很有規律,說真的,他們來了、我還嫌打亂了生活計劃。所以一個人的生活常態,兒女來看你、是驚喜！如此才不會心懷不滿，而感到落寞了！
至於孫子輩、哈哈,不用說,早就想也不想了！這是人類新陳代謝的自然規律嘛！
總之只有放下自我,才能戰勝死亡,充分享受餘生期。至於身後之事,兒孫自有兒孫福,不是我們應該費心去想的。
Singapore school girl wins Commonwealth essay prize!
You will be amazed at the maturity of this 15-year old girl.
It's worthwhile taking 5 mins to read this essay.
A 15-YEAR-OLD Singaporean, competing against 16-> 18-year-olds, has won the top prize in a writing contest that drew 5,300 entries from 52 countries...
In the annual Commonwealth Essay Competition, Amanda Chong of Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) chose to compete in the older category and won with a piece on the restlessness of modern life.
Her short story, titled What The Modern Woman Wants, focused on the conflict in values between an old lady and her independent-minded daughter.
'Through my story, I attempted to convey the unique East-vs-West struggles and generation gaps that I felt were characteristic of young people in my country,' said Amanda, who likes drama, history and literature and wants to become a lawyer and a politician.
Chief examiner Charles Kemp called her piece a 'powerfully moving and ironical critique of modern restlessness and its potentially cruel consequences'.
The writing is fluent and assured, with excellent use of dialogue.
Amanda gets (S$1,590). A Singaporean last won the top prize in 2000, said Britain 's Royal Commonwealth Society, which has been organising the competition since 1883. Singaporeans also came in second in the 14 to 15-year-old category, and fourth in the under-12s. Other winners included students from Australia , Canada and South Africa.
What the Modern Woman Wants... By Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen
The old woman sat in the backseat of the magenta convertible as it careened down the highway, clutching tightly to the plastic bag on her lap, afraid it may be kidnapped by the wind. She was not used to such speed, with trembling hands she pulled the seat belt tighter but was careful not to touch the patent leather seats with her callused fingers, her daughter had warned her not to dirty it, 'Fingerprints show very clearly on white, Ma.'
Her daughter, Bee Choo, was driving and talking on her sleek silver mobile phone using big words the old woman could barely understand.
'Finance', 'Liquidation', 'Assets', 'Investments'... Her voice was crisp and important and had an unfamiliar lilt to it.
Her Bee Choo sounded like one of those foreign girls on television.
She was speaking in an American accent. The old lady clucked her tongue in disapproval......
'I absolutely cannot have this. We have to sell!' Her daughter exclaimed agitatedly as she stepped on the accelerator; her perfectly manicured fingernails gripping onto the steering wheel in irritation.
'I can't DEAL with this anymore!' she yelled as she clicked the phone shut and hurled it angrily toward the backseat.. The mobile phone hit the old woman on the forehead and nestled soundlessly into her lap. She calmly picked it up and handed it to her daughter..
'Sorry, Ma,' she said, losing the American pretence and switching to Mandarin. 'I have a big client in America . There have been a lot of problems.'
The old lady nodded knowingly. Her daughter was big and important.
Bee Choo stared at her mother from the rear view window, wondering what she was thinking. Her mother's wrinkled countenance always carried the same cryptic look. The phone began to ring again, an artificially cheerful digital tune, which broke the awkward silence.
'Hello, Beatrice! Yes, this is Elaine.' Elaine. The old woman cringed. I didn't name her Elaine. She remembered her daughter telling her, how an English name was very important for 'networking', Chinese ones being easily forgotten.
'Oh no, I can't see you for lunch today. I have to take the ancient relic to the temple for her weird daily prayer ritual.' Ancient Relic. The old woman understood perfectly it was referring to her. Her daughter always assumed that her mother's silence meant she did not comprehend.
'Yes, I know! My car seats will be reeking of joss sticks!' The old woman pursed her lips tightly, her hands gripping her plastic bag in defence.
The car curved smoothly into the temple courtyard. It looked almost garish next to the dull sheen of the ageing temple's roof. The old woman got out of the back seat, and made her unhurried way to the main hall.
Her daughter stepped out of the car in her business suit and stilettos and reapplied her lipstick as she made her brisk way to her mother's side.
'Ma, I'll wait outside.. I have an important phone call to make,' she said, not bothering to hide her disgust at the pungent fumes of incense.
The old lady hobbled into the temple hall and lit a joss stick, she knelt down solemnly and whispered her now familiar daily prayer to the Gods.
Thank you God of the Sky, you have given my daughter luck all these years. Everything I prayed for, you have given her. She has everything a young woman in this world could possibly want. She has a big house with a swimming pool, a maid to help her, as she is too clumsy to sew or cook. Her love life has been blessed; she is engaged to a rich and handsome angmoh man. Her company is now the top financial firm and even men listen to what she says... She lives the perfect life. You have given her everything except happiness. I ask that the gods be merciful to her even if she has lost her roots while reaping the harvest of success.
What you see is not true, she is a filial daughter to me. She gives me a room in her big house and provides well for me. She is rude to me only because I affect her happiness.. A young woman does not want to be hindered by her old mother. It is my fault.
The old lady prayed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, with her head bowed in reverence she planted the half-burnt joss stick into an urn of smoldering ashes.
She bowed once more. The old woman had been praying for her daughter for thirty-two years. When her stomach was round like a melon, she came to the temple and prayed that it was a son. Then the time was ripe and the baby slipped out of her womb, bawling and adorable with fat thighs and pink cheeks, but unmistakably, a girl. Her husband had ticked and punched her for producing a useless baby who could not work or carry the family name.
Still, the woman returned to the temple with her new-born girl tied to her waist in a sarong and prayed that her daughter would grow up and have everything she ever wanted.
Her husband left her and she prayed that her daughter would never have to depend on a man. She prayed every day that her daughter would be a great woman, the woman that she, meek and uneducated, could never become. A woman with nengkan; the ability to do anything she set her mind to. A woman who commanded respect in the hearts of men. When she opened her mouth to speak, precious pearls would fall out and men would listen. She will not be like me, the woman prayed as she watched her daughter grow up and drift away from her, speaking a language she scarcely understood.
She watched her daughter transform from a quiet girl to one who openly defied her, calling her laotu, old fashioned.... She wanted her mother to be 'modern', a word so new there was no Chinese word for it.
Now her daughter was too clever for her and the old woman wondered why she had prayed like that. The Gods had been faithful to her persistent prayer, but the wealth and success that poured forth so richly had buried the girl's roots and now she stood faceless with no identity, bound to the soil of her ancestors by only a string of origami banknotes.
Her daughter had forgotten her mother's value. Her wants were so ephemeral, that of a modern woman. Power, wealth, access to the best fashion boutiques and yet her daughter had not found true happiness.
The old woman knew that you could find happiness with much less.
When her daughter left the earth, everything she had would count for nothing. People would look to her legacy and say that she was a great woman but she would be forgotten once the wind blows over, like the ashes of burnt paper convertibles and mansions.
The old woman wished she could go back and erase all her big hopes and prayers for her daughter now that she had looked out of the temple gates.
She saw her daughter speaking on the phone, her brow furrowed with anger and worry. Being at the top is not good, the woman thought, there is only one way to go from there – down.
The old woman carefully unfolded the plastic bag and spread out a packet of beehoon in front of the altar. Her daughter often mocked her for worshipping porcelain Gods. How could she pray to them so faithfully and expect pieces of ceramic to fly to her aid? But her daughter had her own gods too, idols of wealth, success and power that she enslaved to and worshipped every day of her life.
Every day was a quest for the idols, and the idols she worshipped counted for nothing in eternity. All the wants her daughter had would slowly suck the life out of her and leave her, an empty souless shell at the altar.
The old woman watched the joss stick. The dull heat had left a teetering grey stem that was on the danger of collapsing.
Modern women nowadays, the old lady sighed in resignation, as she bowed to the east one final time to end her ritual. Modern women nowadays want so much that they lose their souls and wonder why they cannot find it.
Her joss stick disintegrated into a soft grey powder. She met her daughter outside the temple, the same look of worry and frustration was etched on her daughter's face.
An empty expression, as if she was ploughing through the soil of her wants looking for the one thing that would sown the seeds of happiness.
They climbed into the convertible in silence and her daughter drove along the highway, this time not to fast as she had done before.
‘Ma,’ Bee Choo finally said. "I don't know how to put this.
Mark and I have been talking about it and we plan to move out of the big house. The property market is good now, and we managed to get a buyer willing to pay us seven million for it. We decided we'd prefer a cosier penthouse apartment instead. We found a perfect one in Orchard Road .. Once we move into our apartment, we plan to get rid of the maid, so we can have more space to ourselves....."
The old woman nodded knowingly. Bee Choo swallowed hard. We'd get someone to come in to do the housework and we can eat out – but once the maid is gone, there won't be anyone to look after you. You will be awfully lonely at home and, besides that the apartment is rather small. There won't be space. We thought about it for a long time, and we decided the best thing for you is if you moved to a Home. There's one near Hougang – it's a Christian home and a very nice one."
The old woman did not raise an eyebrow. I"ve been there, the matron is willing to take you in. It's beautiful with gardens and lots of old people to keep you company! Hardly have time for you, you'd be happier there." "You'd be happier there, really." her daughter repeated as if to affirm herself.
This time the old woman had no plastic bag of food offering to cling tightly to, she bit her lip and fastened her seat belt, as if it would protect her from a daughter who did not want her anymore. She sunk deep into the leather seat, letting her shoulders sag and her fingers trace the white seat.
Ma, her daughter asked, searching the rear view window for her mother. "Is everything okay?
What had to be done, had to be done. "Yes" she said firmly, louder than she intended, 'if it will make you happy,' she added more quietly.
‘It's for you, Ma! You will be happier there. You can move there tomorrow, I already got the maid to pack your things.' Elaine said triumphantly, mentally ticking yet another item off her agenda.
'I knew everything would be fine.' Elaine smiled widely; she felt liberated. Perhaps getting rid of her mother would make her happier... She had thought about it. It seemed the only hindrance in her pursuit of happiness. She was happy now. She had everything a modern woman ever wanted; money, status, career, love, power and now freedom without her mother and her old-fashioned ways to weigh her down......
Yes she was free. Her phone butted urgently, she picked it up and read the message, still beaming from ear to ear. "Stock 10% increase." Yes, things were definitely beginning to look up for her and while searching for the meaning of life in the luminance of her hand phone screen, the old woman in the backseat became invisible and she did not see her in tears.
朋友為了小孩的事情很生氣，我勸她不要為孩子設想太週到，慈母多敗兒，古有明訓啊！
想起《紅樓夢》中的一首歌叫做「好了歌」。
自己也順便複習一下，原詞如下：
世人都曉神仙好，惟有功名忘不了。
古今將相在何方？荒冢一堆草沒了。
世人都曉神仙好，只有金銀忘不了。
終朝只恨聚無多，及到多時眼閉了。
世人都曉神仙好，只有嬌妻忘不了。
君生日日說恩情，君死又隨人去了。
世人都曉神仙好，只有兒孫忘不了。
癡心父母古來多，孝順子孫誰見了?
曹雪芹借瘋道人之口闡釋「好」「了」二字。
他說：「可知世上萬般
『好』便是『了』
『了』便是『好』
若不了，便不好，
若要好，便要了」
您「了」嗎？
PS此文「了」音「瞭」。
Copied from facebook
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61605149
The long reign of Queen Elizabeth II was marked by her strong sense of duty and her determination to dedicate her life to her throne and to her people.
She became for many the one constant point in a rapidly changing world as British influence declined, society changed beyond recognition and the role of the monarchy itself came into question.
Her success in maintaining the monarchy through such turbulent times was even more remarkable given that, at the time of her birth, no-one could have foreseen that the throne would be her destiny.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on 21 April 1926, in a house just off Berkeley Square in London, the first child of Albert, Duke of York, second son of George V, and his duchess, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Both Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret Rose, who was born in 1930, were educated at home and brought up in a loving family atmosphere. Elizabeth was extremely close to both her father and her grandfather, George V.
At the age of six, Elizabeth told her riding instructor that she wanted to become a "country lady with lots of horses and dogs".
She was said to have shown a remarkable sense of responsibility from a very early age. Winston Churchill, the future prime minister, was quoted as saying that she possessed "an air of authority that was astonishing in an infant".
Despite not attending school, Elizabeth proved adept at languages and made a detailed study of constitutional history.
A special Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace, was formed so that she could socialise with girls of her own age.
On the death of George V in 1936, his eldest son, known as David, became Edward VIII.
However, his choice of wife, the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, was deemed to be unacceptable on political and religious grounds. At the end of the year he abdicated.
A reluctant Duke of York became King George VI. His Coronation gave Elizabeth a foretaste of what lay in store for her and she later wrote that she had found the service "very, very wonderful".
Against a background of increasing tension in Europe, the new King, together with his wife, Queen Elizabeth, set out to restore public faith in the monarchy. Their example was not lost on their elder daughter.
In 1939, the 13-year-old princess accompanied the King and Queen to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.
Together with her sister Margaret, she was escorted by one of the cadets, her third cousin, Prince Philip of Greece.
It was not the first time they had met, but it was the first time she took an interest in him.
Prince Philip called on his royal relatives when on leave from the navy, and by 1944, when she was 18, Elizabeth was clearly in love with him. She kept his picture in her room and they exchanged letters.
The young princess briefly joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) towards the end of the war, learning to drive and service a lorry. On VE Day, she joined the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace as thousands gathered in The Mall to celebrate the end of the war in Europe.
"We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves," she later recalled. "I remember we were terrified of being recognised. I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."
After the war, her desire to marry Prince Philip faced a number of obstacles.
The King was reluctant to lose a daughter on whom he doted, and Philip had to overcome the prejudice of an establishment that could not accept his foreign ancestry.
But the wishes of the couple prevailed and on 20 November 1947 the couple married in Westminster Abbey.
The Duke of Edinburgh, as Philip had become, remained a serving naval officer. For a short time, a posting to Malta meant the young couple could enjoy a relatively normal life.
Their first child, Charles, was born in 1948, followed by a sister, Anne, who arrived in 1950.
But the King, having suffered considerable stress during the war years, was terminally ill with lung cancer, brought about by a lifetime of heavy smoking.
In January 1952, Elizabeth, then 25, set off with Philip for an overseas tour. The King, against medical advice, went to the airport to see the couple off. It was to be the last time Elizabeth would see her father.
Elizabeth heard of the death of the King while staying at a game lodge in Kenya and the new Queen immediately returned to London.
"In a way, I didn't have an apprenticeship," she later recalled. "My father died much too young, so it was all a very sudden kind of taking on and making the best job you can."
Her Coronation in June 1953 was televised, despite the opposition of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and millions gathered around TV sets, many of them for the first time, to watch as Queen Elizabeth II made her oath.
With Britain still enduring post-war austerity, commentators saw the Coronation as the dawn of a new Elizabethan age.
World War Two had served to hasten the end of the British Empire, and by the time the new Queen set off on a lengthy tour of the Commonwealth in November 1953, many former British possessions, including India, had gained independence.
Elizabeth became the first reigning monarch to visit Australia and New Zealand. It was estimated that three-quarters of Australians turned out to see her in person.
Throughout the 1950s, more countries hauled down the union flag and the former colonies and dominions now came together as a voluntary family of nations.
Many politicians felt that the new Commonwealth could become a counter to the newly emerging European Economic Community and, to some extent, British policy turned away from the Continent.
But the decline of British influence was hastened by the Suez debacle in 1956, when it became clear that the Commonwealth lacked the collective will to act together in times of crisis. The decision to send British troops to try to prevent Egypt's threatened nationalisation of the Suez Canal ended in an ignominious withdrawal and brought about the resignation of Prime Minister Anthony Eden.
This embroiled the Queen in a political crisis. The Conservative Party had no mechanism for electing a new leader and, after a series of consultations, the Queen invited Harold Macmillan to form a new government.
The Queen also found herself the subject of a personal attack by the writer Lord Altrincham. In a magazine article, he claimed her court was "too British" and "upper-class" and accused her of being unable to make a simple speech without a written text.
His remarks caused a furore in the press and Lord Altrincham was physically attacked in the street by a member of the League of Empire Loyalists.
Nevertheless, the incident demonstrated that British society and attitudes to the monarchy were changing fast and old certainties were being questioned.
Encouraged by her husband, notoriously impatient with the court's stuffiness, the Queen began to adapt to the new order.
The practice of receiving debutantes at court was abolished and the term "the Monarchy" was gradually replaced by "the Royal Family".
The Queen was once more at the centre of a political row when in 1963, Harold Macmillan stood down as prime minister. With the Conservative Party still to set up a system for choosing a new leader, she followed his advice to appoint the Earl of Home in his place.
It was a difficult time for the Queen. The hallmark of her reign was constitutional correctness, and a further separation of the monarchy from the government of the day. She took seriously her rights to be informed, to advise and to warn - but did not seek to step beyond them.
It was to be the last time she would be put in such a position. The Conservatives finally did away with the tradition that new party leaders just "emerged", and a proper system was put in place.
By the late 1960s, Buckingham Palace had decided that it needed to take a positive step to show the Royal Family in a far less formal and more approachable way.
The result was a ground-breaking documentary, Royal Family. The BBC was allowed to film the Windsors at home. There were pictures of the family at a barbecue, decorating the Christmas tree, taking their children for a drive - all ordinary activities, but never seen before.
Critics claimed that Richard Cawston's film destroyed the mystique of the royals by showing them to be ordinary people, including scenes of the Duke of Edinburgh barbecuing sausages in the grounds at Balmoral.
But the film echoed the more relaxed mood of the times and did much to restore public support for the monarchy.
By 1977, the Silver Jubilee was celebrated with genuine enthusiasm in street parties and in ceremonies across the kingdom. The monarchy seemed secure in the public's affection and much of that was down to the Queen herself.
Two years later, Britain had, in Margaret Thatcher, its first woman prime minister. Relations between the female head of state and female head of government were sometimes said to have been awkward.
One difficult area was the Queen's devotion to the Commonwealth, of which she was head. The Queen knew the leaders of Africa well and was sympathetic to their cause.
She was reported to have found Thatcher's attitude and confrontational style "puzzling", not least over the prime minister's opposition to sanctions against apartheid South Africa.
Year by year, the Queen's public duties continued. After the Gulf War in 1991, she went to the United States to become the first British monarch to address a joint session of Congress. President George HW Bush said she had been "freedom's friend for as long as we can remember".
However, a year later, a series of scandals and disasters began to affect the Royal Family.
The Queen's second son, the Duke of York, and his wife Sarah separated, while Princess Anne's marriage to Mark Phillips ended in divorce. Then the Prince and Princess of Wales were revealed to be deeply unhappy and eventually split up.
The year culminated in a huge fire at the Queen's favourite residence, Windsor Castle. It seemed a grimly appropriate symbol of a royal house in trouble. It was not helped by a public row over whether the taxpayer, or the Queen, should foot the bill for the repairs.
The Queen described 1992 as her "annus horribilis" and, in a speech in the City of London, appeared to concede the need for a more open monarchy in return for a less hostile media.
"No institution, city, monarchy, whatever, should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don't. But we are all part of the same fabric of our national society and that scrutiny can be just as effective if it is made with a measure of gentleness, good humour and understanding."
The institution of monarchy was very much on the defensive. Buckingham Palace was opened to visitors to raise money to pay for the repairs at Windsor and it was announced that the Queen and the Prince of Wales would pay tax on investment income.
Abroad, the hopes for the Commonwealth, so high early in her reign, had not been fulfilled. Britain had turned its back on its old partners with new arrangements in Europe.
The Queen still saw value in the Commonwealth and was deeply gratified when South Africa, where she had come of age, at last threw apartheid aside. She celebrated with a visit in March 1995.
At home, the Queen sought to maintain the dignity of the monarchy while public debate continued on whether the institution had any future.
As Britain struggled to find a new destiny, she tried to remain a reassuring figure, and with a sudden smile could lighten a solemn moment. The role she valued above all was that of symbol of the nation.
However, the monarchy was shaken and the Queen herself attracted unusual criticism after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car accident in Paris in August 1997.
As the public crowded around the palaces in London with tributes of flowers, the Queen seemed reluctant to provide the focus that she had always tried to do during great national moments.
Many of her critics failed to understand that she was from a generation that recoiled from the almost hysterical displays of public mourning that typified the aftermath of the princess's death.
She also felt as a caring grandmother that she needed to comfort Diana's sons in the privacy of the family circle.
Eventually, she made a live broadcast, paying tribute to her daughter-in-law and making a commitment that the monarchy would adapt.
The deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, in the Queen's Golden Jubilee year, 2002, cast a shadow over nationwide celebrations of her reign.
But despite this, and the recurring debate over the future of the monarchy, a million people crowded into The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace, on the evening of the jubilee.
In April 2006, thousands of well-wishers lined the streets of Windsor as the Queen performed an informal walkabout on her 80th birthday.
And in November 2007, she and Prince Philip celebrated 60 years of marriage with a service attended by 2,000 people at Westminster Abbey.
There was yet another happy occasion in April 2011 when the Queen attended the wedding of her grandson, William, Duke of Cambridge, to Catherine Middleton.
In May that year she became the first British monarch to make an official visit to the Irish Republic, an event of great historical significance.
In a speech, which she began in Irish, she called for forbearance and conciliation and referred to "things we wish had been done differently or not at all".
A year later, on a visit to Northern Ireland as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, she shook hands with the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness.
It was a poignant moment for a monarch whose much-loved cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, had been killed by an IRA bomb in 1979.
The Diamond Jubilee brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets and culminated in a weekend of celebrations in London.
The referendum on Scottish independence, in September 2014, was a testing time for the Queen. Few had forgotten her speech to Parliament in 1977 in which she made clear her commitment to a United Kingdom.
"I number kings and queens of England and of Scotland, and princes of Wales among my ancestors and so I can readily understand these aspirations. But I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
In a remark to well-wishers at Balmoral on the eve of the Scottish referendum, which was overheard, she said she hoped people would think very carefully about the future.
Once the result of the vote was known, her public statement underlined the relief she felt that the Union was still intact, although recognising that the political landscape had changed.
"Now, as we move forward, we should remember that despite the range of views that have been expressed, we have in common an enduring love of Scotland, which is one of the things that helps to unite us all."
On 9 September 2015 she became the longest reigning monarch in British history, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. In typical style she refused to make any fuss saying the title was "not one to which I have ever aspired".
Less than a year later, in April 2016, she celebrated her 90th birthday.
She continued with her public duties, often alone after the retirement of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2017.
There were continued strains on the family - including her husband's car accident, the Duke of York's ill-judged friendship with convicted American businessman Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Harry's growing disillusionment with life in the royal family.
These were unsettling moments, presided over by a monarch who demonstrated that she was still firmly in control. There was also the death of Prince Philip in April 2021, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and her Platinum Jubilee a year later.
Although the monarchy might not have been as strong at the end of the Queen's reign as it was at the start, she was determined that it should continue to command a place of affection and respect in the hearts of the British people.
On the occasion of her Silver Jubilee, she recalled the pledge she had made on a visit to South Africa 30 years before.
"When I was 21, I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God's help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret, or retract, one word of it."
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