This Thursday, in the United Kingdom, the clock marked 12:30 p.m. (6:30 am in Colombia) when Buckingham Palace, as discreet and succinct as ever, issued a disturbing statement. In few lines, The doctors expressed their concern about the state of health of Queen Elizabeth II.
Minutes after that message, the monarch’s relatives began to arrive at Balmoral, the royal family’s resting castle in Scotland, where Elizabeth II rested.
(See the special: Elizabeth II, the end of a historic reign)
Exactly six hours later came the fateful news: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The king (Charles, son of Elizabeth II) and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral tonight and will return to London tomorrow (Friday), ”said the official statement from the British crown.
With the death of the queen, 96 years old and reigning 70 – the longest in the history of the British monarchy (1952 -2002) –one of the key characters in recent history is leaving.
In these seven decades, Isabel II fulfilled, without questioning, the mandate imposed from her birth to “live to serve”, as her biographers assure. She was a witness and participant in the most important political and economic decisions not only in her country, but also in international geopolitics, after World War II.
From her accession to the throne, at the time of the decline of the imperial power of Great Britain until the end of her reign, Elizabeth II earned a halo as a matriarch for generations of Britons, who saw her as a symbol of stability and confidence.
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15 British prime ministers passed through Elizabeth II’s office at Buckingham Palace, from Winston Churchill, the man who led the victory in World War II, through Margaret Thatcher, the famous ‘Iron Lady’, to Liz Truss, with whom the queen met on Tuesday entrusting her last public request: to form a government after being elected leader of the Conservative Party, replacing Boris Johnson.
In addition, he met with twelve of the 14 presidents that the United States had during this time, along with dozens of leaders from the rest of the world. Of all, Elizabeth showed a fascination with Churchill, whom she regarded as her mentor and friend during her early years ruling the British.
And it is that his reign overcame key moments in the history of the 20th century and this one.
(Also: Queen Elizabeth II: the historical moments that marked her monarchy)
During the Cold War, relations with the leaders of the Soviet bloc and its allies were few. Nikita Khrushchev was received at Windsor Palace in 1956. Then it was not until 1989 and perestroika that a distant successor, Mikhail Gorbachev, had that honor again, marking the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and with it, the end of the global confrontation.
Another of the episodes in which he was the protagonist occurred in the midst of the difficult bilateral relationship between his country and Argentina due to the conflict over the Malvinas Islands. Although the monarch herself did not decide, she did endorse the actions taken by the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990), related to the war, which left 649 dead Argentines, 255 British and three islanders.
(Keep reading: The strange spots on the hand of Queen Elizabeth II that warned about her health)
More recentlyElizabeth II was in the spotlight in 2016, when the British decided to leave the European Union (EU). And it is that although the queen had no role in the application of Brexit, the problems in reaching a legislative agreement reached the sovereign.
Years later, on August 28, 2019, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked the monarch to suspend Parliament to make it difficult for pro-EU deputies to maneuver.
tireless worker
In these 70 years, Isabel visited about 117 countries around the five continents and it is estimated that she covered at least 12 million kms. This added that, still advanced in years, the queen worked tirelessly with exhausting days that, sometimes, lasted until dawn.
However, in recent months he had hardly been seen in public, and he exhibited a fragile image. Rumors said that she was suffering from cancer and that covid-19, which she suffered at the beginning of the year, had weakened her. In addition, she used a cannula and suffered from arthritis, which limited her mobility.
Although she dedicated long hours of her life to being in her office in Buckingham, it was no coincidence that her days ended at Balmoral, the favorite abode of her husband Felipe, who passed away in April 2021.
With the image of speaking slowly, walking fast and looking straight, the sovereign ruled the destinies of thousands of Britons and her prolific family, including her four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is credited with qualities of calm and uncomplaining dedication to duty, even in her old age.
(Also read: Queen Elizabeth II, a historic sovereign with a 70-year mandate)
“This earned him widespread respect in the United Kingdom and abroad, even among the so-called ‘republicans’ who are anxious for the abolition of the monarchy,” the expert on British royal issues, Mónica Elliston, assured EL TIEMPO. , who holds the famous blue badge, which accredits her as an official tourist guide in England.
According to royal biographer Robert Lacay, the queen gave the crown a life that no one expected. On the contrary, it was surprising to demonstrate the strength and importance of the monarchy, beyond the function of “rolling out a carpet of happiness”.
As monarch, the queen seemed increasingly aware of the modern role of the monarchy, allowing, for example, the television of the royal family’s domestic life in 1970 and tolerating the formal dissolution of her sister’s marriage in 1978.
In addition to her key role as a 20th-century figure, Elizabeth II had to deal with scandals within her own family during her reign.
(You can read: Queen Elizabeth II: 40 facts about the late British monarch)
Won widespread respect in the UK and abroad, even among so-called ‘Republicans’
In the 1990s, the crown faced a series of challenges. In 1992, a year Elizabeth referred to as the “annus horribilis” of the royal family, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, separated.
Criticism intensified after Diana’s death in 1997, especially after the queen initially refused to allow the national flag to fly at half-staff over Buckingham Palace.
And although at the beginning of the 2000s its popularity grew again, years later the controversies returned again. It was a blow to the queen when Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stepped down from their royal roles in March 2020.
Then, the royalty was also hit with the scandal involving Andrés, considered his favorite son, who had to leave public life due to his friendship with the American financier Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sexually exploiting minors.
(Also: The story of Prince Charles, the new king of England)
The truth is that beyond these episodes, The world closed an era this Thursday with the death of Elizabeth II. Well, with the death of other universal names, such as Nelson Mandela, John Paul II, or recently Mikhail Gorbachev, Elizabeth II was the greatest living figure of the 20th century.
MARIA VICTORIA CRISTANCHO
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
LONDON
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