Queen Elizabeth’s II’s passing
By Kemar Noel
Staff Writer
At 16:30 BST (British Standard Time) on September 8, Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully. Queen Elizabeth was the queen of the United Kingdom and other commonwealth realms from 1952 when she was anointed with the title of the queen up until her passing.
Queen Elizabeth was the longest monarch to rule in British history with a record of seventy years. On the same day she passed, her eldest son Prince Charles III became king.
After mourning for over a week Queen Elizabeth was laid to rest on Monday after tens of millions of people from the UK bid their final goodbyes.
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service,” she announced on a radio address broadcast on her 21st birthday and she kept that promise.
Queen Elizabeth did many things to aid in diplomacy, especially during her youth and she continued helping her country up until her passing this year. She served as a mechanic during world war two as a teenager and saved her rations for her future wedding. Throughout the years she made many diplomatic visits to such places as Germany and China to show improved relations between the countries.
Elizabeth guided a commonwealth during her rule over the nation’s remaining under British monarchy. The queen has partaken in charity work for more than six hundred charities and at least two billion USD was raised because of her.
Even though she was never supposed to be queen, a series of unfortunate events landed her in the position she was in. She was loved by her country and performed a televised Christmas address every year.
There are many detailed plans for the queen’s death so there were many procedures put into place before she died. Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth, such events such as the coronation of Prince Charles were already planned well ahead of time.
There is a clear statement of the love her people had for her with the number of people who watched her funeral. The broadcasted funeral peaked at around 37.5 million viewers overall on September 19, which is the biggest audience in UK broadcast history according to the BBC and other news sources like ITV and Sky. Students in some schools also watched the service to pay respects to the late queen. Many world leaders attended the funeral including United States President Joe Biden.
“Although that vow was made in my salad days when I was green in judgment, I do not regret nor retract one word of it.” The Queen stated at the 1977 silver jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth’s name has deep ties to British history and heavily influenced the lives of her children and grandchildren. She was loved by her country and the world. Her yearly televised Christmas messages will certainly be missed.