The King's state visit to the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, had me searching online for photographs of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II attending Episcopal services during their respective state visits. During his state visit, George VI, with FDR, attended divine service at St. James Episcopal Church, Hyde Park, New York City on Sunday 11th June 1939. The first photograph, taken after the service, shows the King and Queen, President and Mrs. Roosevelt, Bishop Henry St. George Tucker (then PECUSA Presiding Bishop), and two Episcopal clergy. The second and third photographs are of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attending divine service in Old North Church on Sunday 11th July 1976, as part of the bicentennial celebrations. The photographs evoke something that, in many ways, been lost. Reflecting on the photographs, however, is neither a counsel of despair nor a call for reactionary outrage. It is, instead, an i...
Old High - Burkean - clerk in holy orders