Wia dis foto come from, NPG

Dis na di moment history stop; for one minute, an hour, for a day or a week; dis na di moment history stop.

Across one life and reign, two moments from two very different eras illuminate di thread wey bind di many decades together. At each one chair, one desk, one microphone, one speech. In each, dat high-pitch voice, those clipd precise vowels, dat slight hesitation about public speaking wey no go never quite seem to leave her.

One moment dey sun-dappled, though di British pipo dey suffer through one terrible post-war winter. One young woman, barely more dan one girl really, sits straight-backed, her dark hair pull up, two strings of pearls around her neck. Her youthful skin dey flawless, she dey very beautiful. A life opens out ahead of her.

She bin pledge life to her audience around di world. She tell dem: "I no suppose get di strength to carry out dis resolution alone." And she ask for dia company for dia years to come.

Two moments from two eras - the Queen makes a broadcast on her 21st birthday, top, and on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe

Di oda speech dey more formal. More dan seventy years later, on di 75th anniversary of di day di war for Europe end, she sit behind one desk, foto of her papa, di late King, for uniform, to her right.

Her hair - she still pull am up - dey white now. She wear blue dress, two brooches, three strings of pearls. Di many years leave dia mark, but her eyes still sparkle and her voice still clear.

Di desk dey practically empty na only di foto and to di right, for di centre, one dark khaki cap, wit one badge for im front.

"All get part to play," she say of long-ago war.

Di cap belong to Second Subaltern Windsor, of di Auxiliary Territorial Service; di young Princess Elizabeth pester her loving father to allow her join, so she go serve in uniform, even as di war wey define her - and for many years her kontri - end. Now, 75 later on, di cap get pride of place as she speak to her kontri on di anniversary of great and heroic victory.

Service to di UK military - inspecting Grenadier Guards in 1952, and RAF crews in 1957

Di cap na simple reminder of wetin she admire most - service: di service she offer wey golden day decades beforehand, di service she see for her formative years as nation, Commonwealth and Empire give life and limb so dat odas fit dey be free; di service wey she believe lay at di heart of di Crown she inherit and devote her long life to.

Three decades on from that vow of service, she go allow herself one rare moment of public introspection; "Although dat vow dey made 'for my salad days when I dey green in judgement'," she tell di Guildhall on her Silver Jubilee, "I no regret or retract one word of it."

Over di decades she speak little, and reveal even less, about herself for public. She - one child of di broadcast age - never give any interview. Once or twice dem go film her "in conversation" with a trusted friend, doing toktok amicably about something wey no get wahala, like di royal jewellery collection.

Her words go dey scoured for one hint of controversy or an opening into her character. But she dey too careful - and her friends too loyal - for anything important to slip out.

She no neglect di medium wey come of age as she do. Na her decision to allow her coronation to be televised, her decision to televise di Christmas Broadcast, her decision to speak live to di nation after di death of Diana, Princess of Wales. "I gatz dey seen to be believed," she go say.

Service to di nation - being crowned in 1953, and with den Prime Minister Edward Heath for one concert in 1973

Broadcast and newspaper coverage, di endless pictures of her in well-chosen gowns and dresses - dis na part of wetin e be to be Queen, part of di job she bin pledg her life to. Talking about her feelings publicly no dey among.

And she come from one generation - and from one nation - wey no feel di need to share m feelings. Di nation go change. She no go change.

Here fate and character go collide. Na her fate to take di Crown as di kontri move into far-reaching change. But di Queen dey open about her liking for tradition, for di ways dem dey always do things, and her dislike of change.

Her heart dey di countryside, and dia, with horses and dogs and amongst those who love animals as she do, na di reassurance of a place wey change incrementally, if at all.

"I find dat one of di sad things," she go say in d late 1980s, na "dat pipo no take on jobs for life, dem try different things di whole time."

Monarch and monarchy fitted hand-in-glove; sovereign wey relished tradition leading institution established upon am.

One life-long love of di countryside - for Windsor Great Park wit Prince Charles and Princess Anne in 1956, and with Prince Philip for one farm on di Balmoral Estate in Scotland in 1972

Even over di palace gate, a breeze of change go transform Britain. She mount di throne for criticial time for British history.

At di time di war don hugely affect Britain and di kontri no longer be military or economic powerhouse.

Di rise of trade unions, di collective provision of services and creation of welfare state signal big change as per how tins dey run for di kontri.

Di statemy withdrawal from Empire come become something wey dem hurry do.

As her reign progress, things begin to change, di old order, church and aristocracy and placement into class crumble.

Financial assistance and celebrity come overtake accident of birth as measure of achievement for society.

Consumer goods like fridges, washing machines, televisions and vacuum cleaners transform homes and social lives.

Women also join workforce, old working class arrangement become thing of di past plus di slums wey bin dey house dem.

Society wey before na di same strong unit now come become mobile and diverse a change from di loyalties of di past.

Even for di palace change happun especially at di beginning of her reign, di end of di 'debutante season' wey mean say daughters of di 'best' families no dey get presentation for court.

Fresh faces dey among those wey dey invitation to lunch and dinner and Television open chance for Britons to see dia Queen and how she dey live.

First for christmas broadcast and full length documentary follow for di late 1960s.

But all dis change na one wey carry small 'c' as her seven decades on di throne draw to close di rythm of monarchy remain one wey no dey different from di one wey father or grandfather know.

Christmas and New Year for Sandringham, Easter fof Windsor, long summer break for Balmoral, Rememberance Sunday and oda notable events.

Changing times - riding di London Underground in 1969, and preparing to deliver her televised Christmas message in 1967, di first to be delivered in colour

When change press in all around, she resist. Her fate na to inherit di crown as di kontri stand on di cusp of change, and to reign as change swirl around di palace. Her character dictate say she no go change with am, e no go bend to fashion. Dat resistance, dat deep appreciation - love, even - of tradition, was her greatest strength, and led to perhaps her greatest test and gravest crisis, as her family unravelled.

Family always come second to di Crown. When her first two pikin, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, dey little more dan toddlers, dem leave dem behind - as dia parents don leave her and her sister Princess Margaret behind two decades earlier - as di Queen and di Duke of Edinburgh go on six-month world tour.

She no be mother wey no get feeling, but she be remote one. Di Crown and im responsibilities bin come to her when she dey just 25, and she take those responsibilities very seriously. Plenti decisions about di pikin dey delegated to di duke.

Three of her four pikin marriages go end in divorce. She believe in marriage, na part of her Christian faith and her understanding of wey knit society together. "Divorce and separation," she once say, "be responsible for some of di darkest evils for our society today."

No doubt say dat view, hold by many for di late 1940s, mellow as di years go by. But no parent enjoy seeing dia pikin marriage fail. Di Queen self-proclaim "annus horribilis" in 1992 see di separation of di Duke and Duchess of York, di divorce of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and di separation of di Prince and Princess of Wales.

"One low point for her life," one biographer bin write, no be because of wetin don lead to di rare public admission of tough times, "but because of di lack of gratitude, even derision, with which her 40 years of dedication appeared to have been crowned."

Her first decade bin pass in a dazzle of adulation, at home and abroad. Vast crowds turn out for her on international tours. Back home, some proclaim a new Elizabethan Age, although di Queen dey clever enough to immediately disavow am.

Family time and personal loss - with Prince Philip and dia four pikin in 1972, and looking at fire damage to Windsor Castle in 1992

Di 1960s dey na cooling off period, di queen dey more involved wit her family, novelty of new monarch don pass. For 1970s and 80s, plenti waka no too follow am, rather focus dey on pipo wey like her royalty and media pipo shift dia eye to her pikins, dia marriages and dia partners.

By di mid 90s, e come be like plenti pipo no too dey follow monarch matter, pipo dey criticize di queen directly and some dey torchlight di future of monarchy. Her reign come dey like epoch.

Wetin be her place and di monarchy for di new "Cool Britannia" and di informal style wey Tony Blair embrace? How palace go fit in wit di popular demand for change wey di Labour pipo express for dia election victory?

Some months after di victory, one hot August night for Paris, death of Diana Princess of Wales happun. Flower come plenti in front of di Kensington Palace. Di flag above Buckingham Palace remain bare. Plenti pipo for di nation dey worry sake of di Princess death.

"Show us say you care, Ma'am" na wetin Daily Express use di headline. "Wia our Queen dey? Wia her flag dey?"na wetin di Sun ask. Di Queen dey for Balmoral for five days, dey like she no know wetin don happun for di kontri. May be na as Palace go brief later, dis na to protect di young Prince William and Harry.

But sake of her character, e dislike change, dis be like e affect di decisions we e make dat time; Nobodi fit interrupt Balmoral, no flag fly for Buckingham Palace for her absence. Di Royal Standard no fly at half mast.

Dis na terrible misjudgement. She hurry back to di capital, back to Buckingham Palace. She stop, look at flowers wey don dey pile up around. "We bin no dey confident," na wetin one former official tell di biographer, "say wen di Queen comot from car, make dem no hiss or jeer." E bad reach like dat.

Joy and tragedy - di Queen with Prince Charles and im den-fiancée Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, and with Prince Philip among di floral tributes following di death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997

She bin no gree to broadcast at first, but later come agree to speak live. She speak to di nation, just before di BBC Six O'clock news. She - wey bin don ginger broadcast executives to try with her wooden delivery one time - barely get time to prepare.

Her performance bin dey flawless, her speech brief but e dey perfectly pitch. She tok of "lessons to learn"; she tok "as a grandmama"; she tok of di "determination to cherish" Diana memory.

Dis na triumph wey draw from di jaws of deep crisis. Di poison wey dey go round di Royal Family, go round di Palace and go round di very institution of wey monarchy come comot.Once for her reign - just once - fate and character bin jam with near-disastrous consequences.

Dem go combine more happily for di Queen international role. By di time of her death, she bin never visit countries for many years. But for decades she bin not only be a global celebrity like no oda, but also a be a gentle instrument of influence.

Nothing fit compare to di first dazzling decade of her reign, before television make her image commonplace and her tours dey accessible from di living room. For her long 1954 tour of Australia, e be like say two-thirds of di country come out to see her; for 1961 two million pipo line di road from di airport to di Indian capital Delhi; for Calcutta three-and-half million pipo stand dey wait to see di daughter of di last Emperor.

Fate dictate say she go oversee di long daybreak of Empire, even though not for once wey di Queen attend a flag-lowering ceremony.Many times for di 1950s and 60s, a member of di Royal Family go stand as di Union flag come down over a former colony, di national anthem go play one last time.

A determination say sometin go come out from di imperial family wey she don pledge to serve, go mean say she go build a new association on di ashes of Britain imperial legacy.

For palaces and houses across di capital and di country, na dia her blood family live. Across di world, na so her territorial family spread reach - a group of wildly diverse nations, both big and tiny, rich and poor, republics and monarchies - wey she charm and persuade and ginger to remember wetin bind dem togeda, and wetin wey togeda dem fit achieve.

International visit she take on behalf of di goment of di day; dem be di tools of foreign policy - if not clearly, den on di understanding say di Queen influence go dey beneficial to di relationships between Britain and di places wey she visit.

E look glamorous - di Royal Yacht, di Queen Flight, banquets and galas - and before international air travel come dey common, na extraordinary experience. But na always hard work, long days and weeks of receptions, exhibitions, openings, lunches with officials, state dinners and speeches she give and listen to patiently. Those wey don observe royal tour find am hard to imagine say na e be fun for those at wey dey for di heart of it.

One global role - with Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at di waterfall where the Nile begins, in 1965, and greeted coming of the royal yacht Britannia by the Emir of Bahrain in 1979

She no dey too take holiday outside di UK - travelling abroad mean say na work. Her foreign travel go mark di step-changes for Britain relationship wit di places wey she visit: post-war Germany for 1965; a liberalising China for 1986; Russia for 1994, once di regime wey murder her family members don go.

A trip to post-apartheid South Africa in 1995 she go call: "One of di most outstanding experiences of my life". President Nelson Mandela reply: "One of di most unforgettable moments in our history."

And no visit mark and seal any changed relationship more than her trip to Ireland for 2011. Not for a century wey any British monarch don visit di south. Wen her grandfather bin visit for 1911 di island of Ireland na one part of di United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Violent clashes, partition  and independence go follow.

After World War Two den come acts of violence against di existence of di partition border and den, for 30 terrible years, brutal terrorist campaign for Northern Ireland and Britain against British rule, wit harsh acts of repression by di British goment wey cause divided opinion for di republic. 

Nothing like right time for a royal visit, becos of di lack of trust across di water wey separate Britain and Ireland. Wit di signing of di Good Friday Agreement and di establishment of power-sharing assembly, bring di end of Ireland constitutional claim to di six counties wey make up Northern Ireland. 

On her state visit, wey di Queen extend, no time again to escape history. For di Garden of Remembrance, for di centre of Georgian Dublin, wia all wey fight for Ireland independence dey remembered and honoured, she lay wreath and bow her head to di men and women wey fight against British rule, na ogbonge moment.

During dinner she go open her speech wit Irish language, wey make nearly every Irish pesin like am. For dat speech she speak di language, if not di words, of apology; "Wit di benefit of historical hindsight, we fit see tins wey we wish say we bin do differently, or not at all."

Before di Ireland state visit one biographer go write say "e dey difficult to point to major achievements" for her reign. Dat judgement no go later hold. Di four days of perfect words and actions help sweep away centuries of bad intentions and distrust. 

Ireland bin become problem for many of her prime ministers. Her first, Winston Churchill, bin tok of di "gloomy steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone" rising again afta World War One to disturb British politics. One of her last, Boris Johnson, struggle wit di implications of di border within di island, and how to compare am wit UK separation  from di European Union.

Evri body dey get her attention, her experience, her perspective on British and world history. Her job in di weekly meeting she dey do wit di prime minister no be to lobby for any individual cause, or to try to manipulate di goment one way or another. She dey dia to advise, to encourage and to warn.

And she dey there to listen. All her prime ministers fit dey entirely confident that nothing wey dey tell her go escape. So she be di one pesin wey pipo fit freely tok about who truly understand di machinery of state. For so many prime ministers, wey dey often face challenges, dis na also a relief, escape from watching dia back and holding dia tongue wen dem dey around colleagues and rivals.

"Dem dey unburden demsef to me or tell me wetin dey go on," she go say mid-reign. "If dem get any problems, sometimes one fit help in that way too. I think na as if na one sort of a sponge."

Here she no dey carry shoulder. Almost nothing dey break di confessional silence around those audiences, apart from praise for di extraordinary effort wey di Queen dey put for her work. Di red boxes wey contain state papers - for Whitehall she dey known as Reader No. 1 - go everywhere with her, to Balmoral, on tour, on di royal train, even carry aboard di Royal Yacht.

For three hours a day, her private secretary estimate for di early 1970s, say she dey read Foreign Office telegrams, reports of parliamentary proceedings, ministerial memoranda and cabinet minutes.

And she remember wetin she read, sometimes catching her prime ministers out with her graft and her recall. "I dey surprise with di way Her Majesty sabi all di details wey dem send for messages and telegrams." Harold Macmillan write.

Politically neutral, diplomatically useful - alongside former and current prime ministers in 1985, and wit den US President Ronald Reagan in 1983

Di Crown political role don go down to almost notin by di time she come to di throne. Two areas of discretion - where she as monarch bin get say - survive: who she fit call to become prime minister and form a goment, and wen Parliament fit dey dissolved.

Early for her reign, before di Conservatives bin start to elect dia leaders, she exercise her judgement even as controversy dey go on about who she go call to form goment wen one Conservative prime minister resign between general elections.

But once di Conservatives start to dey elect dia leaders, dat judgement no dey longer needed. And ova di decades, di very idea of say di Palace dey involved in dat kind decision dey alien to British politics. Di tok around closely fought elections bin dey "protect" di palace from having to make political decisions ova who dem go call to form one goment if winner no dey.

Di Queen never get reason to deny one dissolution of Parliament, and e for don become extraordinary act to do am. She understand di tightly circumscribed role wey she inherit.

And di Crown political voice dey almost silent too. Pipo don read too much into what one biographer call di "truism" say she get along beta wit Labour leaders dan dia Conversative counterparts. For all di social difficulties wey Margaret Thatcher fit get, di Queen attend her funeral, honour wey be say na only one prime mister she don give before - Winston Churchill.

Her personal political belief fit lean towards di centre; she come of age at di creation of that peacetime monument to wartime struggle, di National Health Service, and as di state extend dia responsibilities for citizens welfare and education. Di strife of di early 1980s - rocketing unemployment, riots for di great cities, budget cuts and the miners strike setting communities against each oda - mark di end of one vision of Britain.

One over-enthusiastic briefing by one Palace press officer to di Sunday Times for 1986 suggest unhappiness with di direction of goment policy and wetin im say di di Queen see as di corrosion of di post-war political consensus. Na brief glimpse into di tinkin of one sovereign wey believe say one of her roles na to unify one increasingly divided and disparate nation.

And she don step into debate two times sake of Scottish independence. One na for her speech for di 1970s and anoda one na just before di referendum of 2014. Dis kind tin dey too political? To some nationalists, yes. But it e dey hardly surprising say she go urge little caution on pipo wey dey prepare to decide di break-up of her kingdom.

Her conservative character drive di way she carry out her political role? Maybe to some degree. But di last monarch to involve himself in political matters na her grandfather George V. By di time she take di throne, di political role don fall away. Her institutional fate na to be a cipher, someone wey dey do di bidding of odas. Say she go don understand from di start. Here, fate and character bin walk hand in hand.

Na dis avoidance of any political controversy as head of state, and her refusal to bend the monarchy to the winds of fashion, nai enable her to triumph in di role wey go earn her di ove and respect of so many, as head of nation.

Dis na di great unwritten role of modern monarchy. Dis na where character alone drive her reign as she dey unprotected by tradition and unprepared by precedent.

Formal and informal - inside carriage on her way to di state opening of Parliament in 2002, and laughing with Prince Philip in 2014

Her grandfather lay di foundations for one monarchy wey serve instead than rule di nation, but spend much of im time blasting birds from di skies.

Her father reign dey decided for him by fate: den put am into one role e no expect and wear military uniform for much of im time as King.

Afta catastrophe and criticism for di 1990s, di monarchy fortunes rise again. As disappointment follow di high hopes for political change, as cynicism dey establish and political leaders make fun of, uncontroversial and never-too-fashionable Queen become a figure of incorruptible continuity to a nation wey dey face change, disappointment and division.

Dis na di nation reward for her endless patience, for her refusal to show emotion for public, to share her thoughts, to lean left or right, to involve hersef in fashionable causes or respond to di slings and arrows wey dem dey throw at her and her family over di many decades.

She remain apart from all dat not because of hierarchy but because she - with prescience wey still dey surprising - never engage in di superficial of di day-to-day, di back and forth of modern life.

She understand dat di rhythm of monarchy - di traditions and ceremonies, di births and di weddings and di deaths - provide comfort to those wey sometimes confuse by di uprooting of di past, and served as a reminder dat di drumbeat of life dey shared across class, age and circumstance.

And she understood say no be everything for national life getz to get clear purpose, that for a conservative nation for di throes of near-ceaseless change, di continuity she represente in person and in office get value beyond measure.

She, who with intuition beyond her years, pledge a life of service so many years ago, make di monarchy di repository of much that the nation loved of itsef.

She fit do that because her character dey reflect much of wetin Britons like to think of as di best of demsef; modest, uncomplaining, thrifty, intelligent if not intellectual, sensible, feet-on-di-ground, unfussy, a dry sense of humour with great big laugh, slow to anger and always well-mannered.

"I be di last bastion of standards," she once tok. She no dey boast of beta manners or finer etiquette than odas. She dey explain her role and her life.

Na her life and her work to be di best of Britain. Dis na di service wey she give.

Wia dis foto come from, Chris Levine/ Jersey Heritage Trust

Picture credits: Alamy, Getty Images, National Portrait Gallery and Jersey Heritage Trust.

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