Queen Elizabeth II
No one was truly shocked, yet most of us were momentarily stunned, when we learned yesterday that Queen Elizabeth II had died at age 96.
She’s the only Queen of England most of us have ever known.
In fact, most people alive today never lived during the time of another British monarch. Less than an estimated 10 percent of the globe’s population is older than 71, the age one would have to be to have been alive during the reign of Elizabeth’s father King George VI, who died in February 1952.
I’m not a monarchist. My ancestors fled Ireland in part because of 800 years of oppression by the crown. Beyond that, the very concept of a hereditary monarchy where anyone can ascend the throne simply on the basis of DNA, is the antithesis of our American constitutional republic.
Yet many of us respect Elizabeth II. She was a dedicated queen who rarely made a misstep. Her popularity took a dive in the aftermath of Diana’s death in 1997, but she quickly recovered.
She was a steady, reserved monarch who rarely showed emotion. In public, anyway. Most of what Americans know of Elizabeth comes from movies such as the wonderful 2006 film, “The Queen” starring Helen Mirren and also from “The Crown,” Netflix’s wildly popular series about Elizabeth, which so far has had three different actresses portraying her as she aged.
If you missed the addictive series, this is the perfect time to do some binge-watching.
Yet Elizabeth, a descendent of Queen Victoria, was an accidental queen. Had it not been for Edward, the Prince of Wales and his lust for an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Elizabeth might have been relegated to a membership in the extended royal family. If Edward had become king and fathered children of his own, that is.
But Edward’s impulsive abdication in 1936 gave Britain his brother, King George VI. And George’s untimely death placed his 26-year-old daughter on the throne.
No one suspected that she would not only be the longest-reigning monarch in Britain, but also the longest-reigning monarch in the world, according to some sources.
Elizabeth was on the throne through 15 prime ministers - her first was Winston Churchill - 14 different American presidents and 7 popes.
Her life was historic. By the time of her death Elizabeth was beloved by most of her subjects and widely admired throughout the world.
Flags on federal buildings in America have been lowered to half-staff in Queen Elizabeth’s honor, a tribute rarely given to a foreign dignitaries. Flags were lowered upon the deaths of Winston Churchill in 1965, Anwar Sadat in 1981, Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, King Hussein of Jordan in 1998, Pope John Paul II in 2005 and when Nelson Mandela died in 2013.
The next two weeks will be filled with ceremonial mourning in Great Britain. Then the inevitable question will arise: Can the British monarchy survive with Elizabeth gone?
We shall see.
