meritorious

Queen: 
When I ascended the throne, I was just a girl. Twenty-five years old.
And I was surrounded by stuffy, rather patronizing gray-haired men everywhere, telling me what to do. And I wanted to say the way you dealt with all your stuffy, rather patronizing gray-haired men throughout your time in office and saw them all off. 

Margaret:
Well, they've had their revenge now. 

Queen:
I was shocked by the way in which you were forced to leave office.
And I wanted to offer my sympathy, not just as Queen to prime minister, but woman to woman.  
Throughout the time we worked together, people tended to focus on our many differences, which was lazy and misleading, I think. And overlooked the many things we do have in common. Our generation. Our Christianity. Our work ethic. Our sense of duty. 
But above all, our devotion to this country that we both have. 
So with that in mind. 
The Order of Merit is not awarded by some faceless committee. 
It comes at the personal discretion of the sovereign, and it is in recognition of exceptionally meritorious service. 
It is limited to just 24 recipients, no matter their background. 
You could be the daughter of a duke. Or a greengrocer. 
What matters is your accomplishments. 
And nobody can deny that this is a very different country now to the one inherited by our first woman prime minister. 

*meritorious 칭찬할 만한 (praiseworthy) 

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