God save our gracious Queen.Long live our noble Queen. God save the Queen! MONTEREY, California – When she ascended to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father, George VI on February 6, 1952, these are the words that every member of the vast British Commonwealth knew as their national anthem.
The official coronation was June 2, 1953, and Queen Elizabeth oversaw a vast British Empire. Through colonization of lands around the world, it was once said, “The sun never sets on the British Empire” because somewhere around the world, a nation or a territory was under British control.
That is why the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, has such a profound effect on many drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series. “She was a wonderful woman,” four-time IndyCar champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “That is the best way to describe her, an absolutely wonderful woman.” Franchitti is from Edinburgh, Scotland, and part of the United Kingdom, which also includes England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
But there are 15 countries part of the British Commonwealth including Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Soloman Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom.