After 70 years on the throne, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away at 96 in Balmoral.
She spent the summer at her estate in Scotland, and she passed away there on a Thursday afternoon. When she ascended to the throne in 1952, the Queen presided over a time of dramatic social transformation.
Her son, King Charles III, expressed his “extreme sadness” after his mother’s passing, saying that her loss will be “truly felt” worldwide. He said, “We profoundly mourn the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother.
“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and countless people worldwide.”
During the coming mourning period, he said he and his family would be “comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.”
Queen Elizabeth II Has Died
According to Buckingham Palace, King Charles and his new Queen Consort Camilla will return to London on Friday. On Friday, he will reportedly give a speech to the country. When the Queen’s doctors expressed concern about her health earlier in the day, the senior royals assembled in Balmoral. After doctors put the Queen under medical monitoring, she and her children went to Balmoral, not far from Aberdeen.
Prince William, now the heir to the throne, and his brother, Prince Harry, were also present. Newly appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss thanked the Queen on Tuesday, saying the monarch “gave us the stability and strength that we needed.”
She spoke about the new King: “We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much, to so many, for so long.
“And with the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country, exactly as Her Majesty would have wished, by saying the words ‘God save the King’.”
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressed his “deep sorrow” over the death of Queen Elizabeth II, as she is the supreme authority of the Church of England.
“The King and the Royal Family are in my thoughts and prayers,” he stated.
After World War II, Queen Elizabeth II presided over a period of austerity, the end of the British Empire, the conclusion of the Cold War, and the United Kingdom’s accession and subsequent exit from the European Union.
Winston Churchill, born in 1874, was the first of 15 prime ministers who served throughout her reign, which ended with Ms. Truss’s birth in 1975.
Throughout her entire tenure, she routinely met with her prime minister once a week. Many people gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London to hear news of the Queen’s health and began sobbing as they learned of her passing.
At 18:30 BST, an official notice announcing the death was put outside the palace, and the union flag was lowered to half-mast. On the Queen’s death, Prince William and his wife, Catherine, became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on 21 April 1926 in Mayfair, London, to the Windsor family. When her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated in December 1936 to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, few could have predicted she would become monarch.
At the age of 10, Elizabeth, or Lilibet as she was known in the family, became the heir to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. The United Kingdom was at war with Nazi Germany within three years. Because their parents had refused recommendations that they should move to Canada, Elizabeth and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, spent much of the war at Windsor Castle.
After reaching the age of majority (18), Elizabeth enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service and served there for five months, during which she gained experience in driving and basic auto repair. She reflected on the experience by saying, “I came to grasp the esprit de corps that flourishes in the face of adversity.”
Throughout the war, she kept in touch with her third cousin, Philip, Prince of Greece, who was serving in the Royal Navy. They fell in love, and on November 20, 1947, they tied the knot in Westminster Abbey, with the prince becoming the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Charles was born to the couple in 1948, and subsequent children Princess Anne in 1950, Prince Andrew in 1960, and Prince Edward in 1964. They gave their parents eight grandkids and twelve great-grandchildren.
A statement from His Majesty The King: pic.twitter.com/AnBiyZCher
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 8, 2022
In 1952, while representing the sick King in Kenya, Princess Elizabeth received the devastating news that her father had passed away. She hurried back to London to assume her new role as monarch.
“It was all a very sudden kind of taking on and making the best job you can,” she recalled.
On June 2, 1953, when she was 27 years old, Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey in front of an estimated 20 million people watching on television.
In the following decades, there would be a lot of change. The British Empire would end overseas, and the Swinging ’60s would change social norms at home. By going on walkabouts, visiting schools, and attending community activities, Elizabeth updated the monarchy for a less formal era.
She never wavered in her dedication to the Commonwealth, making at least one trip to each member nation. The public and private suffering, however, was not constant.
During the “annus horribilis” of 1992, the Queen’s private house and working palace, Windsor Castle, was destroyed by fire, and the marriages of three of the Queen’s children ended in divorce. The Queen was criticized for her lack of public reaction following the 1997 car accident that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, in Paris.
The value of a monarchy in today’s world has been called into doubt.
“No institution… should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t,” she acknowledged.
As of right now, the Royal Family is in mourning. The next few days will be a time of suspension for the majority of national activities. Flags will be flown at half-mast at all government and military facilities and British diplomatic stations worldwide, and official events will be canceled.
Members of Parliament will swear an oath to King Charles and pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. Church bells will toll, guns will be saluted, and memorial ceremonies will be held all around the country as communities and charities pay their respects in various ways.
Within the next two weeks, the Queen will have a state funeral.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, was among many who paid tribute to the Queen, recalling how she stood by the United States in its “darkest days” following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. President Macron of France praised her as a “kind-hearted Queen” and a “friend of France.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Queen Elizabeth II is one of his “favorite people in the world” because of her unwavering presence in Canadians’ daily lives.
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