The longest reigning head of state in the world today and the oldest incumbent head of state, Queen Elizabeth II of England, died on the afternoon of September 8 local time at the royal residence of Balmoral Castle, located in Scotland, at the age of 96. On the same day, the British royal family announced the news to the public, and the whole country of Britain mourned.
According to the plan, the new king and former crown prince, Charles , who have just taken office, will meet with Prime Minister Tras, who has just taken office, to discuss the Queen's affairs. According to British media reports, Tras received news of the Queen's death during her first parliamentary inquiry. At that time, she and the leader of the Labor Party , received a small yellow note handed over by the staff and immediately left the venue. Two hours later, the royal family announced the death of the queen.
1947, Princess Elizabeth held a wedding with Prince Philip .
"Queen of Heaven" will become "Queen of Heaven"
According to the long-determined queen's funeral arrangement, after the British time enters September 9, the coffin of Elizabeth II will be transferred to the banquet hall of Balmoral Castle for the staff in the manor to say goodbye to the queen who had been with them day and night. Most of the summers of the past 70 years, the Queen has spent the 7,000-acre estate, hunting deer, riding horses, fishing and handling state affairs.
From the moment the Queen died, Charles became the new king of England. On the evening of September 8, a royal spokesman said that his name was confirmed as Charles III. This was beyond the expectations of some royal journalists: considering that Charles' name is Charles Philip Arthur George, royal experts had previously expected him to become "George VII". Several royal journalists said on social media that this may be the royal family's decision to continue Elizabeth II's "compliance with public opinion" because "for the people, he has always been Charles, not George." This decision also ensured the stable transition of royal power as much as possible.
On the evening of September 9th local time, after the meeting with Trass, Charles will give his first national televised speech as the king. This is also the second time that the British monarch made a special speech to the people after the Queen gave a national speech on the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.
Although the Queen's funeral will not be held immediately, both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace have been open to public offerings of flowers and messages. On September 8, the "Sevastopol Bell" in the castle, which was captured from the 19th century Crimean War, was ringed. In London, the bell of Westminster Abbey rings every hour, and Hyde Park starts to fire salutes.
htmlOn September 10, the queen's coffin will be transported to Scottish capital Edinburgh . At the same time, Charles was officially appointed King of England. From this moment on, the name of the British national anthem will change from "Queen of Heaven" to "Queen of Heaven", and the half-mast lowered from the royal residence will also rise again.
As planned, on September 12, after the public in Edinburgh mourned the Queen's coffin, the royal train will slowly travel through half of the UK with the remains of Elizabeth II and arrive in the capital London on the 13th. During the entire process of the Queen's coffin transporting from St Pancras Station to Buckingham Palace and then arriving at the British Parliament on the 14th, millions of British people are expected to gather on the streets of London. The climax of mourning is expected to appear at a funeral on September 17, and the queen will be transported back to Windsor Castle for burial.
On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II of England was crowned.
"Without her, everything is different"
After the death of Elizabeth II, Maya Yasanov, a professor of history at Harvard University and an expert in British history, published a comment on "Mourning the Queen, Not His Empire" in "New York Times ". Comments pointed out that people should not romanticize the Queen's era, the British Empire was split during her reign, and the international influence of the London government was significantly reduced.The Queen has been trying to play a stable symbol in this declining empire.
It is undeniable that maintaining stability and balance between British society and the Commonwealth was a task that Elizabeth II had been working hard to complete in his later years. In a polarized and torn world, she tries to avoid favoring either side in all public words and deeds, avoid expressing controversial views, and ultimately avoid aggravating national division. "She did this with extraordinary skills and dignity," said the British " Guardian ".
But this process is not easy. The words and deeds of the queen's husband Prince Philip, who died in 2021, have frequently caused controversy. Philip Murphy, professor of history at the University of London, noted that the Queen "has the amazing ability to repeat the same tedious official activities, which means a lot to others". He said the Queen had never resisted this "boring duty" and maintained absolute consistency in thousands of events and speeches, which was her sense of responsibility.
html During his 170-year reign, the Queen has also performed several eye-catching bold actions. In 1961, Elizabeth II visited Ghana, a former British colony that was not long ago. In that era when apartheid was prevalent, she and Ghanaian leader Nkrumah danced gracefully, becoming a symbol of the royal family embraced a new era.
1986, the Queen became the first British head of state to visit China. She visited Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Kunming and Guangzhou, climbed the Great Wall of HTML , and admired the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang that amazed her.
In April 2020, in the face of the new crown epidemic, the Queen gave her fifth and last national special speech in her ruling career for the first time. She acknowledged the pain of losing family and financial difficulties encountered by the British people during the epidemic, and used the lyrics of "We'll Meet Again" that sang the whole country during the Second World War (we will meet again) to soothe people's hearts. After her death, some British newspapers also quoted her statement after the "9.11 incident " as her own eulogy: Grief is the price we pay for love.
is in a changing situation. In addition to being cautious in words and actions, Elizabeth II has also made decisions to compromise with the times and public opinion. Her performance after the death of Princess Diana, which is deeply loved by the British people, has become well known. After giving the highest level of mourning to the deceased who was "dearing each other" with the royal family, she admitted that a monarchy without the support of the people cannot survive.
Elizabeth II also had an important decision to open up royal life to the public. The 1969 documentary The Royal Family showed her private life for the first time, including dinner and barbecue. The British media see this as a turning point for the royal family. Since then, every British projected his attitude towards daily life onto the royal family, empathizing with the queen for marriage, children's growth, and relatives' death, seeing how the queen deals with the complicated royal scandals and family changes, and breathes a sigh of relief that she can still walk her dog safely.
In the past two years, the queen has once again faced difficulties in getting along with Princess Diana's son Prince Harry and her wife Meghan . In the royal crisis triggered by the royal family members' "racial discrimination" against Meghan, British society expressed new expectations for the diversified reform of the royal family. All of this puts the Queen under tremendous pressure in her last years. British media reported that although Harry and Meghan were not popular in the royal family, the Queen was always able to talk to Harry. What made Harry heartbroken was that she arrived at the Castle of Balmoral only after her grandmother passed away. Meghan and Prince William's wife Kate did not arrive with the queen as soon as possible because of taking care of their children.
htmlOn September 6, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom met with Tras, the leader of the British Conservative Party, and appointed him as the new British Prime Minister. Photo/Visual China
Finally, the Queen's firmness is also reflected in her performance of her duties. Various comments highly praised her for insisting on appointing the new British Prime Minister Tras at the last moment of her life. This reminds people of the stories of her persistence in her duties since the COVID-19 pandemic.In October 2021, after being diagnosed with new crown and spending the night in the hospital for the first time, the queen canceled her trip according to the doctor's order, but returned to Buckingham Palace the next day, and then met the newly appointed ambassadors of South Korea and Switzerland through video.
The Guardian pointed out that Elizabeth II was in power "as long as most people remember", so she brought the British an unprecedented sense of "time". Whether the monarchy needs to be maintained and whether the huge expenses of the royal family should be maintained is a topic of debate in this country. But when the Queen passed away, the whole of England realized that waiting for the royal funeral on a cold and foggy morning, gathering with friends and family to watch the live broadcast of the wedding of Charles and Princess Diana, William and Kate. I saw the elderly queen appear as usual again and again, greeting Merry Christmas with a gentle voice can bridge the social division of this declining empire. With his unique appeal, Elizabeth II has existed in the daily life of every British.
"The royal family is not perfect, nor is it a system that everyone likes, but for most of our lives, this incredible lady has been a symbol of the country, a symbol of dedication to the people and responsibility. Without her, everything is different." An ordinary British wrote on social media.
Author: Cao Ran
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