This Thursday, September 8, 2022 will go down as a historic date in British history, with the death of the most famous monarch on the planet, at the age of 96. It is now a new era that opens for the British crown to which she had dedicated her life.
The death of Elizabeth II, announced around 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. local time) this Thursday, September 8, 2022, is a planetary historic event that will have a lasting impact on Great Britain. The disappearance of the sovereign, whose state of health had deteriorated for a year, aroused immense emotion in the United Kingdom and in the world. His son and heir acceded to the throne at the age of 73 with the name of Charles III.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and Queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and return to London tomorrow,” Buckingham Palace said in a brief statement.
A symbol of stability, having crossed eras and crises imperturbably, she had rubbed shoulders, since the death of her father George VI in 1952 when she was only 25, with Nehru, Charles de Gaulle and Mandela who called her “my friend”.
On the throne, she witnessed the construction and then the fall of the Berlin Wall, and met 12 American presidents.
She had just named her 15th Prime Minister, Liz Truss, on Tuesday, the occasion for a last photo, frail and smiling, leaning on a cane.
Throughout her 70 year reign, the longest in British history, she fulfilled her role with an unwavering sense of duty.
She had been able to keep over the crises crossed by her kingdom and royalty, massive support from the British, who came by the tens of thousands to see her for a few minutes on the balcony of Buckingham Palace last June for her platinum jubilee, celebrations of his 70 years of farewell-like reign.
– “Loved all over the world” –
“I feel very sad, I have the impression that my grandmother is dead”, reacts Tonnie Cunningham, 35, questioned by AFP in the streets of London.
“She is the only monarch I have ever known”, observes Margaret Caselton, 75, “extremely sad”.
Televisions and radios interrupted their programs to announce the death of the sovereign, widowed since the death in April 2021 of her husband Philip.
Portraits of Elizabeth II with a benevolent smile appear on the front page of British media sites. “Goodnight Ma’am,” headlines The Sun. “The Queen dies peacefully at the age of 96, after 70 years of remarkable service leaving Britain and the world in mourning,” writes the tabloid.
The Times pays tribute to the monarch whose “reign has been marked by an unwavering commitment to her people and her country”. “Thank you Ma’am… for everything”, writes the Daily Mirror while the Telegraph headline simply: “The royal family and the grieving nation”.
“The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty the Queen, is a moment of very great sadness for me and all members of my family,” the new King Charles III said in his first statement as sovereign. “We deeply mourn the passing of a cherished sovereign and beloved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, kingdoms and commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.” .
Charles had gone in the morning to Balmoral as soon as the palace had reported a deterioration in the state of health of the monarch, joined during the day by his sister Anne then at the end of the afternoon his brothers Andrew and Edward, accompanied by the new heir to the throne William. The latter’s wife, Kate, had remained in Windsor with their three children who were starting school.
Prince Harry, youngest son of Charles, arrived in the evening, without his wife Meghan. The couple, who live in California, were to participate in a ceremony in London on Thursday evening.
On the steps of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister paid tribute to a sovereign “loved and admired throughout the world”. “Her Majesty’s death is a huge shock to the nation and the world,” she said, calling on Britons to “unite” behind the new king, with whom she spoke for the first time.
Abroad, tributes have poured in, from political leaders and crowned heads. Emmanuel Macron hailed “a friend of France, a queen of hearts” having “forever marked his country and his century”. Joe Biden, received by Elizabeth II last year, paid tribute to “a stateswoman of incomparable dignity and constancy”, while Vladimir Putin underlined her “authority on the world stage”.
A minute of silence was observed at the UN Security Council. The Eiffel Tower did not twinkle every hour in the evening. The flags of the White House, public buildings in the United States, embassies, military bases and warships will be flown at half-mast until the day of the funeral of Elizabeth II, at sunset.
– Banknotes and stamps –
The death of the sovereign, who had limited appearances for one night in the hospital in October 2021 and had recognized difficulty in moving around, opens a period of national mourning, until her funeral in ten days.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was not destined to become queen when she was born on April 21, 1926. But at the end of 1936, her uncle Edward VIII abdicated, preferring to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American.
Elizabeth’s father then becomes King George VI and she becomes heir to the Crown. On February 6, 1952, while on a trip to Kenya, she learned of the death of her father from cancer at the age of 56. She returned immediately to the United Kingdom, then was crowned on June 2, 1953.
Elizabeth II was at her death head of state of 15 kingdoms, from New Zealand to the Bahamas, which she traveled throughout her reign, always dressed in matching outfits, often in bright colors.
She is above all for the vast majority of her subjects the only sovereign they have ever known, present on banknotes, stamps (which will have to change their face) and subject to the permanent attention of the tabloids.
– Kingdom unity –
She preserved the institution despite several crises, including the death in 1997 in Paris of Charles’ ex-wife, Diana, chased by paparazzi. Elizabeth II had been accused of lacking compassion in the face of the immense emotion aroused by the disappearance of “the people’s princess”.
She has also remained silent in the face of allegations of sexual assault against her son Andrew, who ended it last March by paying millions of dollars, and remained stoic in the face of allegations of racism against the royal family, on the part of of his grandson Harry and his wife Meghan Markle.
The future of the monarchy looks more complicated with Charles, whose popularity is much lower. The British prefer Prince William, now heir to the crown, and his wife Kate.
He acceded to the throne at a time when the unity of the United Kingdom is cracking, under the effect of Brexit, which has awakened the desire for independence in Scotland and community tensions in Northern Ireland. In the former British colonies that remained kingdoms, criticisms are also strong on the colonialist past and the republican inclinations are reinforced.
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