Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee: Given her truly glorious service, republicans should think again – Murdo Fraser MSP

God bless our gracious Queen. This week we can all join together to give heartfelt thanks for the remarkable lifelong dedication and public service of Elizabeth II.

The Platinum Jubilee is unique in history and neither we, nor our children, nor our children’s children, I would wager, will see the likes again.

The young princess, tutored in leadership by her first premier, Winston Churchill, has proved herself the most sagacious of monarchs in so many different types of conflicts throughout her 70-year reign. She has been a guide and friend to a remarkable total of 14 Prime Ministers – so far.

Her Majesty has been a beacon of light and hope since when, as a tender teenager, she addressed the nation in times of peril during the Second World War.

She has spoken to, and for, the nation many times since, in good times and bad. More than that, she has been an exemplar of a life well lived. A simple but true faith and a dedication to public service, devoting her life to improving the lives of her people.

The greatest champion of the Commonwealth, she is a truly international figure who has managed to be a constant while adapting and leading an age of change.

There will be some churls – there always are – who will not rejoice in the Jubilee. I ask them to think again. The Queen is a person who unites, not divides.

Queen Elizabeth meets members of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery at Windsor Castle in October last year (Picture: Steve Parsons/PA)

There will be some who will use this occasion to argue that in the 21st century the United Kingdom should not be a kingdom at all and should not have a monarchy.

Now, I would concede that if you were drawing up a constitution from scratch you might not start off with a monarch.

But there are significant advantages to having a head of state who is above politics, who was not appointed after a divisive election, and can therefore be a figure that everyone looks to. I would also suggest that Elizabeth II has been more uniting to this country, more gracious, and more glorious, than any of the United States’ presidents, however distinguished.

I would ask the most ardent of republicans to look into their hearts and ask, do they think anyone would be celebrating 70 years of President Blair, Johnson, or Sturgeon?

Murdo Fraser is Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife