The Lady of 1 SQ. Foot

Yes, it's official. Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. It tickled me to do it. Ha ha ha.

I went and bought 1 sq. foot of land, and this is said to make me a Lady. Hey, titles have been bought and sold before. I just never believed it could be for so little. HA HA HA. It’s a vanity title.

But I have played many games and earned that title in every game that offered them. Including the titles of Princess, Queen, Milady… ha ha ha, so many times I have earned it.

However, I always looked at that goal in games not as “chasing a title,” but as thinking about how those titles are meant to be in SERVICE of the people. That doesn’t mean everyone who inherited one deserved to always keep it.

I think of it more like the movie Blast From the Past. I can never recall the exact words, but the essence that struck me was this:

A lady treats everyone with the kind of care that makes others feel at home when they are around her.

I know it’s off, but that’s how I remember it.

But hey, it’s official: I am a Lady of Scotland… well, maybe, ha ha ha. But it giggles me.

So let’s list some people in our history who were great, and some who were naughty… naughty.

A. Titles in Service of the People

These are queens, lords, and ladies who mostly lived the idea that a title is for serving, not just shining.

1. Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom)

Reign: 1952–2022

Famous for: a lifetime vow of service at age 21 and decades of steady presence through crisis.

She treated the role as work and duty, not personal glory. She was known for calm listening and for showing up where people were hurting (bombings, disasters, tragedies).

2. Eleanor of Aquitaine

12th‑century Duchess and Queen of both France and England.

Famous for: political influence, being a patron of culture, surviving imprisonment, and supporting her sons and their causes.

She didn’t just wear the crown; she used her position to shape laws, inheritance, and ideas.

3. Lord Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley‑Cooper)

19th‑century British lord.

Famous for: laws limiting child labor in factories and mines, and laws protecting mentally ill people from abuse.

He is a classic “lord as defender of the vulnerable.”

4. Princess Diana (Lady Diana, Princess of Wales)

Late 20th century.

Famous for: embracing AIDS patients, working on landmine bans, and physically comforting people who were treated as outcasts.

She wasn’t perfect—no one is—but she used her title to say, “You matter,” especially to those others avoided.

5. Queen Rania of Jordan

Modern queen.

Famous for: education for girls and boys, supporting refugees, and cross‑cultural dialogue.

She is very much “royalty as hands‑on service.”

6. King George VI

King of the UK during WWII, Queen Elizabeth II’s father.

Famous for: staying in London during the Blitz and speaking to the nation despite a painful speech impediment.

He used his role to help steady people during bombing raids and fear. That is a king using power to help save lives.

B. Naughty List – Titles Without Service

This is where privilege and entitlement can hit a person so hard they forget what their crown is for.

1. King Louis XVI of France (Marie Antoinette’s husband)

Reign: 1774–1792.

Famous for: presiding over the collapse of the French monarchy; indecision, failure to reform finances, and failure to stop suffering.

Under that system, the real political power was in his hands. If he had been a good king—listened to the starving people, reformed taxes, cut court excess—Marie’s situation would have been very different.

2. Marie Antoinette

Queen of France; became a symbol of royal excess.

“Let them eat cake” is probably a myth, but she did spend lavishly while people starved. She was disconnected from everyday suffering.

Perhaps she didn’t know better. Maybe she thought spending would give people work. Misinterpretation happens. But the effect was still this: people were hungry and hurt while the court played.

3. King Henry VIII of England

Famous for: six wives, executions, and breaking with Rome mostly for personal reasons.

He used kingly power to solve his own desires, not the people’s needs.

A crown doesn’t make you a good man.

4. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

Last emperor of Russia.

Famous for: clinging to absolute power, ignoring reform, bungling WWI, and leading his country into revolution.

Sometimes people cling to ways they shouldn’t and fail to see those around them until it is far too late.

C. Everyday Ladies and Lords – Earning It Without a Crown

We can’t just say “good royals.” We just established that everyday people can earn this title by their behavior.

1. Florence Nightingale

“The Lady with the Lamp.”

She cleaned hospitals, brought in hygiene and statistics, and dropped death rates. She walked the wards at night so wounded soldiers wouldn’t feel alone.

That is a lady by any good definition.

2. Harriet Tubman

Escaped slavery and then went back around thirteen times to guide others to freedom.

She risked her life and freedom every single time. If that isn’t putting you up for a Lady—or rather Milady—title earned, I couldn’t think of another soul who deserves it more.

3. Rosa Parks

Refused to move from her bus seat.

Quiet, firm, dignified.

She took care of children and was a wonderful lady. She wanted respect, and she had earned it. This kind of dignity is one of the hallmarks of a lady.

4. Malala Yousafzai

Survived a shooting for wanting girls to go to school.

Now she fights globally for education.

Everyone deserves the chance to improve themselves—man, woman, boy, girl. Pick a skin color and insert it here. Everyone deserves the same access, even if poor or rich, provided that when we are given a proper chance we do our best to work for it. If you won’t do the work around your opportunities, that is on you as a person.

5. Roberto Clemente

(Already mentioned on the volunteer page from my dear volunteer Hilary.)

Star baseball player who died on a relief flight bringing supplies to earthquake victims.

He insisted on fair and equal treatment for himself and others. Respect given, and respect given back.

6. Mr. Rogers (Fred Rogers)

TV host for children, gentle and consistent.

He let children know they were heard, respected, and beautiful. He didn’t talk down to them but truly cherished them. For that I’d call him a King rather than just a lord.

Last on this list, but in no way the least just for being the last.

The Crown and the Everyday King

When we look at our everyday people, we see the truth.

The crown is a circle of responsibility. It is a mantle to see to those around us. The power inside it is meant for service to the people, not to self—but some forget that when they have it. Even presidents have failed us at times. People are fallible.

But an everyday person can live in service to others without any official title and be every bit as deserving of the reference.

So to Milady Harriet Tubman and King Fred Rogers I curtsy, and I incline my head to them all, as I thank them for helping me know this:

All lives matter, proven by many a good soul.