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up front Friday 9 September 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, UK’s longest-serving monarch, dies at 96

Continued from Front became public property.
There were plenty of trou-
With the death of the bles. In Elizabeth’s first years
queen, her 73-year-old on the throne, Princess Mar-
son Charles automati- garet provoked a national
cally becomes monarch, controversy through her
even though the corona- romance with a divorced
tion might not take place man.
for months. It is not known The public split of Charles
whether he will choose to and Diana was followed
call himself King Charles III by the shock of her death
or some other name. in a Paris car crash in 1997.
The BBC played the na- For once, the queen ap-
tional anthem, “God Save peared out of step amid
the Queen,” over a portrait unprecedented public
of her in full regalia as her mourning, failing to make
death was announced, a public show of grief that
and the flag over Bucking- was seen by many as un-
ham Palace was lowered feeling. After several days,
to half-staff as the second she made a televised ad-
Elizabethan age came to a dress to the nation.
close. The dent in her popularity
In a statement, Charles was brief. She was by now
called the death of his In this Monday, June 4, 2012 file photo, Prince Charles gestures to his mother, Britain's Queen a sort of national grand-
mother “a moment of the Elizabeth II, at the end of the Queen's Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace, London. The mother, with a stern gaze
greatest sadness for me concert is a part of four days of celebrations to mark the 60 year reign of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and a kind smile.
and all members of my fam- II. Associated Press She was arguably the most
ily,” adding: “I know her loss famous person in the world.
will be deeply felt through- your service.” Elizabeth was barely in her 56. Elizabeth, visiting Kenya, But her inner life and opin-
out the country, the Realms It was a promise she kept teens when Britain went to was told that she was now ions remained mostly an
and the Commonwealth, across more than seven war with Germany in 1939. queen. enigma. The public saw
and by countless people decades. Elizabeth and Margaret “In a way I didn’t have an only glimpses of her per-
around the world.” Elizabeth reigned for 70 spent most of it at Wind- apprenticeship,” Elizabeth sonality -- her joy watching
British Prime Minister Liz Truss, years over a country that sor Castle, spending many reflected in a BBC docu- horse races at Royal Ascot,
appointed by the queen rebuilt from war and lost nights in an underground mentary in 1992. “My father or her pleasure in the com-
just 48 hours earlier, pro- its empire; joined the Euro- shelter as bombs fell. died much too young, and panionship of her beloved
nounced the country “dev- pean Union and then left In 1945, eager to do some- so it was all a very sudden Welsh corgi dogs.
astated” and called Eliza- it; transformed from indus- thing for the war effort, the kind of taking on, and mak- In 2015, she overtook her
beth “the rock on which trial powerhouse to uncer- heir to the throne joined the ing the best job you can.” great-great-grandmother
modern Britain was built.” tain 21st century society. Auxiliary Territorial Service, Her coronation took place Queen Victoria’s reign of
In Canada, where the Brit- She endured through 15 where she enthusiastically more than a year later 63 years, seven months and
ish monarch is the country’s prime ministers, from Win- learned how to drive and at Westminster Abbey, a two days to become the
head of state, Prime Minis- ston Churchill to Truss, be- service heavy vehicles. spectacle viewed by mil- longest serving monarch in
ter Justin Trudeau saluted coming a fixed point and a On the night the war end- lions through the still-new British history, and she kept
her “wisdom, compassion reassuring presence even ed in Europe, May 8, 1945, medium of television. working into her 10th dec-
and warmth.” In India, for those who ignored or she and Margaret mingled, Prime Minister Winston ade. The loss of Philip at
Prime Minister Narendra loathed the monarchy. unrecognized, with cele- Churchill’s first reaction to age 99 in 2021 was a heavy
Modi tweeted: “She provid- Elizabeth Alexandra Mary brating crowds in London. the king’s death was that blow.
ed inspiring leadership to Windsor was born in Lon- She later called it “one of the new queen was “only And the family troubles kept
her nation and people. She don on April 21, 1926, the the most memorable nights a child,” but he was won coming. Her son, Prince An-
personified dignity and de- first child of the Duke and of my life.” over within days and be- drew, was entangled in the
cency in public life. Pained Duchess of York. She was At Westminster Abbey in came an ardent admirer. sordid tale of sex offender
by her demise.” not born to be queen -- 1947 she married Royal Churchill was the first of 15 Jeffrey Epstein, an Ameri-
The queen enjoyed robust her father’s elder brother, Navy officer Philip Mount- prime ministers in her reign. can businessman who had
health well into her 90s, al- Prince Edward, was des- batten, a prince of Greece The monarch held weekly been a friend. The queen’s
though she used a cane tined to take the crown, and Denmark whom she meetings with them, and grandson Prince Harry
in appearances after the to be followed by any chil- had first met in 1939 when they generally found her walked away from Britain
death of Philip, her hus- dren he had. she was 13 and he 18. well-informed, inquisitive and royal duties after mar-
band of 73 years, in 2021. In But in 1936, when she was Their first child, Prince and up to date. rying American actress
October, she was hospital- 10, Edward VIII abdicated Charles, was born on Nov. Her views in those private Meghan Markle in 2018.
ized for a night in London to marry twice-divorced 14, 1948. He was followed meetings became a sub- As the queen entered her
for tests, and thereafter her American Wallis Simpson, by Princess Anne on Aug. ject of intense specula- mid-90s, she had what the
public appearances grew and Elizabeth’s father be- 15, 1950, Prince Andrew tion and fertile ground for palace called “mobility is-
scarcer. came King George VI. on Feb. 19, 1960, and dramatists like Peter Mor- sues” and she appeared
In 1947, almost five years Princess Margaret recalled Prince Edward on March gan, author of the play infrequently in public in
before she ascended the asking her sister whether 10, 1964. Besides those four “The Audience” and hit TV 2022, the year of her Plati-
throne, the 21-year-old Eliz- this meant that Elizabeth children, she is survived by series “The Crown.” Those num Jubilee. In May, she
abeth promised the peo- would one day be queen. eight grandchildren and 12 semi-fictionalized accounts asked Charles to stand in
ple of Britain and the Com- “’Yes, I suppose it does,’” great-grandchildren. were the product of an for her at the State Open-
monwealth that “my whole Margaret quoted Elizabeth In February 1952, George era of declining deference ing of Parliament, one of
life, whether it be long or as saying. “She didn’t men- VI died in his sleep after and rising celebrity, when the monarch’s key consti-
short, shall be devoted to tion it again.” years of ill health at age the royal family’s troubles tutional duties.q