Addie Bracher '27
“What if something absolutely crazy happens while we’re in the woods and we don’t find out about it because we don’t have our phones?” someone asked me at 3 a.m. on the bus to Yosemite.
Half asleep, I muttered something halfheartedly about how unfortunate that would be.
The next day, Queen Elizabeth II passed away.
By the time I heard the news on the drive back to Cate, the Queen had been gone for three days. While I spent those three days enjoying the outdoors, the rest of the world was in mourning.
At age 96, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor had been Queen for 70 years and was the longest-reigning British monarch in history. Yet, when she was born on April 21st, 1926, she was not supposed to become Queen. First in line for the crown was her father’s older brother Edward, followed by any of his future children. However, when Elizabeth was ten, her uncle gave up his position in order to marry twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. Her father George VI then became King, and Elizabeth his successor.
Even as a princess, Elizabeth was very popular with the people. She was known for her dependable cheerfulness and ability to empathize with the public.
An example of this is when Elizabeth was forced to leave London at the beginning of World War II. At age 14, she made her first recorded broadcast directed to British children who were being evacuated from their homes like her. She later helped the war effort by learning to drive and service heavy vehicles.
After the war, Elizabeth wed Philip Mountbatten, a Royal Navy Officer and prince of Greece and Denmark at Westminster Abbey. They had four children together and were married for nearly 74 years; their marriage was the longest of a British monarch in history, until Philip’s death in 2021.
Yet she had only been married to her husband for five years when she became Queen after the untimely death of her father. Elizabeth was traveling in Kenya at the time. Due to communication difficulties, she was unaware for five hours of her father’s passing and that she was now Queen. So, at only 25 years of age, she returned to London as the nation’s new leader. Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on June 2nd, 1953. It was the first royal event to be broadcasted almost in full on television. There were 8,000 guests in attendance and she was anointed out of view of both the audience and the camera. She then returned to her palace accompanied by almost 30,000 troops, 27 carriages and 29 bands. Three million people lined the path in celebration of her ascension to the throne.
As Queen, she traveled to many places and met many world leaders, including 13 U.S. Presidents. On a trip to Ghana, a nation that had gained its independence from Britain just a few years before her visit, she danced with the country’s leader, Kwame Nkrumah, at a time when segregation was still very present in the United States. She went to West Germany in 1965 – the first official visit by a British monarch since 1913. This marked the 20-year-anniversary of the end of World War II and represented the reconciliation between the two nations.
The Queen was also praised for giving the public a glimpse into the private life of the royal family. A 1969 documentary, “Royal Family,” showed Elizabeth and her husband having barbecues and evening conversations. “People realized they weren’t gods. They were real people,” a royal biographer Ingrid Seward said. “A lot of people saw this as a turning point.”
A very public example of the imperfections of the people in the royal family was the separation of Elizabeth’s oldest son Charles from his wife Diana. Only five years after this shocking decision, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. As all of Britain grieved, Elizabeth stayed silent for days, refusing to acknowledge the tragedy publicly. The Queen and Diana had had a tense relationship, as Diana’s desire for contact with the public seemed to highlight the distance of the royal family. However, Elizabeth eventually spoke out in a broadcast to the nation, remembering Diana as “an exceptional and gifted human being,” and recognizing that there were many things to be learned from her life.
In the future, the Queen ensured that the British people were drawn into her life. She celebrated her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years on the throne, in 2002. There were 12,000 guests at the event with about one million people watching on screens around London.
At 5:30 P.M. Greenwich Mean Time on September 9th, 2015, she became the longest serving British monarch in history. At the time, she was 89 years old and had ruled for 23,226 days, 16 hours, and about 30 mins.
Even when the pandemic hit, she fought to stay present in the minds of her people. During the early months of the pandemic, she addressed her country, saying “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again.”
Queen Elizabeth passed away on September 8th, 2022, at 3:10 PM Greenwich Mean Time. She is survived by four children, eight grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. She helped ease the United Kingdom into a post-World War 2 world and worked relentlessly to keep the monarchy relevant in an ever-changing and developing world. She has been the subject of many movies, TV series, and plays--such as “The Crown,” “The Queen,” and “The Royal House of Windsor,” as well as making an appearance in a James Bond movie. Her image decorates money, stamps, and mailboxes. “She has throughout her reign managed to make people feel that she is the spirit and the soul of the country,” said Clive Irving, author of “The Last Queen: How Queen Elizabeth II Saved the Monarchy.” “She gives over a maternal feeling. She's a safe pair of hands at the top. No one else has ever been able to convey that as she did.” She in many ways has shaped both the U.K. and the world into what it is today. Though she can never be replaced, she has paved the way for all future monarchs, inspiring them to lead with consistency and dependability. She will not soon be forgotten.
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