Something really has been lost somewhere down the line here. Giving a gift of flowers is a beautiful gesture and I'm sure the Queen has felt touched and grateful that people think enough of her to bring her bouquets. Somewhere in time, it became more of a standard rule of thumb practice and people started to think the Queen was obligated to do this. She misses collecting flowers for two Sundays and the world is up in arms that the Queen is snubbing people and is being rude and a few other not so endearing opinions.
HM owes no one any obligation when she attends church services on her respite from an exhausting job that she does 24/7 for her people. After over 60 years of steadfast duty to crown and country, one would think that people would think of her as more than a dog and pony show there for their own entertainment and photo-ops.
Frankly I think the giving of flowers to the Queen is a stupid ritual, not something touching. The flowers rarely stay in her hands for more than a minute or so and I think it is a bit of a joke. However it did become a standard practice and because she kept doing it the people started to think HM was obligated to do it. And the Queen and/or her advisors and/or hangers on acquiesced and allowed this practice to develop. And it became a tradition and a beneficial one because it provided an opportunity for the people to "connect" with their monarch.
The world isn't up in arms that she is snubbing people; it's not very important to most of the world. But it
was a major PR snafu and that is all that most of us are really saying.
No sensible person expects a woman of her age to continue to do everything she has done all her adult life. But the Queen has contributed to the expectation that as long as she can be seen she is accessible by her own words and actions. Back when she was a young woman she publicly committed herself to give lifelong service to her people. On her 21st birthday, Princess Elizabeth said, "I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." And she made herself available to do walkabouts and collect flowers, and now she's suddenly stopped.
The Queen has given over 60 years' devoted service, but that is no more than she vowed to do. If she finds her job exhausting now, as I imagine she probably does, she should wind down and delegate more and more of her duties to her successor, and make it known that she won't be doing as much of the flower-collecting stuff.
The fact is that the BRF
is a dog and pony show for the entertainment of the people and for photo ops. The monarch doesn't run the country; the people through their elected Parliament run the country. The arrangement continues to work well, but the royals have a very privileged place in society which requires them to be on show and to perform certain tricks for the entertainment of the people. Once they stop being entertaining they will have outlived their usefulness and won't be kept around.