At the age of 96, having spent 70 years and 213 days on the British throne, Queen Elizabeth II has died. Her son Charles will succeed her.
An era is over, for the United Kingdom and beyond. On Thursday 8 September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died. The increasingly insistent rumours about the deterioration of her health, which had been circulating for several hours, proved well-founded. The Queen passed away at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, surrounded by her family. She will be succeeded by the first of her four children, Charles.
Born in London on 21 April 1926, Elizabeth II became Queen at the age of 25, upon the death of her father George VI. The coronation ceremony of 2 June 1953 broke with tradition, as it was the first to be broadcast on television: credit goes to an idea by Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, her husband since 20 November 1947, who would remain by her side for the rest of her life.
Lasting 70 years and 214 days, Elizabeth II's reign is the longest in British history: in 2015 she surpassed the previous record of 63 years, 7 months and 3 days set by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Seventy years during which, by virtue of her role as head of state, she appointed fifteen prime ministers, from Winston Churchill in the 1950s to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, through to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. The most recent appointment was on 6 September: that of Liz Truss, the new Conservative prime minister.
Without ever taking a political stance, as her impartial role demanded, Queen Elizabeth II lived through a century of history. She was there during the Suez Crisis of the 1950s, which marked the decline of the United Kingdom on the international stage and led to the progressive decolonisation of what had once been the British Empire. She was there in 1973, when the United Kingdom joined the European Community, and she was there in 2016 when citizens voted decisively for Brexit.
She personally met thirteen United States presidents, from Harry Truman to Joe Biden. She addressed the nation during the Gulf War of 1991 and on Victory Day, the 75th anniversary of victory in the Second World War, which fell at the very darkest moments of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The wartime generation knew that the best way to honour those who did not come back was to ensure it did not happen again. The greatest tribute to their sacrifice is that countries which were once sworn enemies are now friends, working side by side for the peace, health and prosperity of us all.
Queen Elizabeth II, address to the nation for Victory Day, 9 May 2020
The Balmoral estate, where Elizabeth II spent her final hours, is also cherished because it is home to local wildlife, red deer in particular. Animal welfare advocates may quite reasonably raise an eyebrow on learning that the British royal family has yet to abandon the tradition of hunting. But it is also true that the Queen was always a great lover of animals; above all, her corgi dogs and her horses.
Understated by nature, Queen Elizabeth II in recent years unexpectedly expressed a certain sensitivity towards environmental issues. She pledged to lead by example personally, through measures to limit waste — of energy and more — at Buckingham Palace. When she found herself hosting Cop26 in Glasgow, her customary composure did not prevent her from urging global leaders to take the fight against the climate crisis seriously.
