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The subtle power of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

The longest-reigning monarch in British history maintained a “blank slate” onto which her subjects, fellow politicians, and the world could project.

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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, died September 8 at Balmoral Castle on her Scottish estate. She was 96 years old, and had been on the throne since the age of 25. Her death marks the end of one of the most successful reigns in any contemporary monarchy.

The 20th century saw monarchs across Europe deposed or exiled or executed. Elizabeth grew up surrounded by royal relatives fleeing their home countries amid the chaos of World War II and taking refuge in England. But under her reign, Britain’s monarchy didn’t only survive. It continued to be downright popular — and so was she.

A recent UK poll showed the queen rejoicing in a favorability rating of 75 percent . Advocates for a British republic frequently cite the queen’s popularity as the reason England remains a monarchy. In his biography Queen of Our Times , Robert Hardman quotes the Australian Labor Party leader Neville Wran as saying, “The biggest problem we’ve got is the Queen! Everybody loves her.”

The queen’s popularity comes from a source that can feel somewhat remarkable in America, with its glad-handing politics. She has been beloved for decades not for a sparkling charisma or great rhetorical flair, but for her steadfast and superhuman ability to give absolutely nothing away.

“Never complain, never explain,” is the unofficial motto of the royal family, and the queen herself served as its living embodiment. Elizabeth lived her life with ferocious discipline, pressing herself into the form of a blank slate onto whom onlookers could project practically anything. She made being a little bit dull into an art form, of which she became the world’s greatest practitioner.

As such, she provided her monarchy with its greatest asset: Queen Elizabeth II was anyone her people wanted her to be.

“Because she has spent her entire life being such a closed book, people project onto her whatever they want her to be,” a former royal adviser says of the queen in Tina Brown’s insider royal tell-all The Palace Papers . “Because she’s not showing any emotion at all, she’s not dividing that audience. She’s not on one side or the other. And that must be exhausting for her.”

“She sees the relevance of what she’s doing in a wider context.”

Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926. Television as a technology was three months old. America’s Great Depression was three years away. Just eight years before, the Russian czars had been executed. As Elizabeth was born, a politically charged coal miners’ strike had royalists fearing that the English Windsors would be next.

At the time, Elizabeth was third in line to the throne and an unlikely target for anyone’s revolutionary fervor. She was the eldest daughter of a second son, and her uncle Edward was the heir to the throne. Nonetheless, she seems to have been equipped with a strong sense of duty early on, along with a love for tidiness and thrift. When she wept during her christening at Buckingham Palace, it would, Sarah Bradford wrote in her 1996 biography Elizabeth , be “the last time that Elizabeth ever made a public scene.” Hardman reports that one of Elizabeth’s favorite nursery toys was a dustpan and brush, and that she kept a special box where she would store wrapping paper and ribbons for reuse.

In 1936, Edward abdicated the throne, and Elizabeth’s father ascended to become King George VI. Elizabeth was now abruptly heir to the throne and a key diplomatic asset. According to Hardman, the shy young princess found the shift difficult, but she applied her characteristic work ethic to her new life. The British peer Alathea Fitzalan-Howard wrote in her diary of meeting “Lilibet” — Elizabeth’s childhood nickname — at a drinks party in 1941 and being proud of her. “Lilibet finds making conversation very difficult like me; but she did very well,” she wrote. Already Elizabeth had hit upon her favorite conversational strategy: “She insisted on bringing the dogs in,” Fitzalan-Howard’s diary entry continued, “because she said they were the greatest save to the conversation when it dropped.”

In 1952, Elizabeth’s father died, and the 25-year-old ascended to the throne. Reportedly, she was at first overwhelmed by the brutal grind of life as a working monarch. On a tour of Australia in 1954, Hardman writes, “the Queen was heard to complain wearily (but uncharacteristically) that this endless diet of mayoral platitudes was ‘boring, boring, boring.’”

No one would ever catch the queen saying such a thing later in her reign. Instead, she tended to chide those who ever suggested that any of her royal duties might be uninteresting.

Hardman quotes a former private secretary who remarked to the queen that a reception for the Commonwealth Auditors’ Association would be “quite a boring one.”

“‘She shredded me,’ the secretary said. ‘The Queen said, “This is not boring. This is interesting and important because these are the people bringing up the standards and fighting corruption in some really difficult countries. They need the support and the encouragement they get from me and this operation.” In other words, she sees the relevance of what she’s doing in a wider context.’”

That stern focus on the wider context, that insistence that her work is interesting because it is necessary, is part of a sense of discipline the queen brought to the royal family. In the monarchy, such focus is necessary, because the job is unending. Being royalty means living your life in public — not just for decades, like movie stars, but always and forever.

“Celebrities flare and burn out. The monarchy plays the long game,” writes Brown in The Palace Papers . “There is no time stamp on the public’s interest in you as long as it’s clear that your interest is the public’s. As the Queen’s grandmother Queen Mary once said to a relative, ‘You are a member of the British royal family. We are never tired and we all love hospitals.’”

Elizabeth’s reticence emerged as a natural consequence of this discipline. She was “schooled,” Brown writes, “to erect inflexible, lifelong barriers around her private thoughts and feelings.” Those barriers would serve her well over her decades of work. Her refusal to ever grant a single interview throughout her reign, Brown writes, “only enhanced her mystique.”

“The Queen has the instincts of a performer.”

Elizabeth’s mystique was real. Since the early days of her reign, those who met the queen were struck by her palpable abilities as a performer. Notably, what she performed was not charm, but stateliness.

Hardman quotes the Economist on the queen during her 1971 visit to France, when the UK was trying to join the European Economic Community. “She remains a symbol in Europe, in a way the Britons barely appreciate,” the Economist wrote. A symbol of what, exactly? “That very difficult mixture of democracy and stability,” the French foreign minister told the magazine.

In 2016 , President Barack Obama compared the queen to Nelson Mandela. They were both, he said, “leaders who have seen so much, whose lives span such momentous epochs, that they find no need to posture or traffic in what’s popular in the moment; people who speak with depth and knowledge, not in sound bites. They find no interest in polls or fads.”

Danny Boyle, who directed the queen during her cameo for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, put it more simply. “The Queen has the instincts of a performer,” he said in The Palace Papers — “she is, after all, ‘on the stage’ all the time.”

Elizabeth’s insistence on being on the stage all the time meant that she could, in a real sense, be all things to all people.

“She is supposed to be as infallible as the Pope and as neutral as Switzerland,” Hardman writes, “while also being human, interesting, broadly positive and always likable.” In a frankly astonishing achievement, the only one of those job requirements at which the queen consistently failed was being interesting. Throughout her reign, her greatest political weakness was the vague sense that she was a bit boring. “She has done and said nothing that anybody will remember,” historian David Starkey wrote in 2015 .

For a queen whose reign included more than one royal scandal, being unmemorable would in and of itself be a victory. But Elizabeth was cannier than that. Over the past decade’s flurry of royal weddings, gossip, and scandal, the queen’s blank slate has allowed onlookers to imaginatively ally her with whichever camp they pleased.

In Lifetime’s miniature franchise of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle films, the queen is a staunch ally to her grandson and his mixed-race wife. The anti-Meghan camp, meanwhile, has plenty of room to align her with the behind-the-scene traditionalists of “the Firm” who manage the palace machinery. In The Crown and The Queen , screenwriter Peter Morgan imagines Elizabeth meeting each successive scandal fraught, conflicted, but ultimately lovable. The 2021 Diana biopic Spencer imagines the queen as a twinkly-eyed enigma: the one member of the royal family Diana seems to look up to, but kept always at a remove that adds to Diana’s isolation.

The one notable exception to the queen’s ability to ride out a scandal without comment came with her commitment to her second son, Prince Andrew. In 2011, Andrew was accused of engaging in sex trafficking along with the notorious Jeffrey Epstein . Brown reports that the queen immediately sent for Andrew and asked him if it was true, and, when Andrew denied all accusations, “made it plain to the press that her second son had her full protection.” She granted him the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order: “her highest gong,” as Brown put it.

Even after her support failed Andrew, the queen refused to fully withdraw it. In 2019, he gave a widely criticized interview about the accusations to the BBC , during which he struggled to defend his longstanding friendship with Epstein. Days later, he announced that he would be stepping down from royal life . Two days after that, he and the queen were spotted riding together on the Windsor Castle estate. The queen, Brown writes, believed that after some time had passed, she’d be able to work him back into the fold.

After all, the queen played a long game. And Andrew aside, her enigmatic presence gave her the power to do work of much more consequence than outlasting a few decades of scandals.

“That extraordinary ability she has to balance the mystique of the monarchy.”

Elizabeth had a singular role as queen. Her five immediate predecessors were all emperors or empresses. But by the time Elizabeth took the throne, the idea of a British empress was out of the question: the British Empire was no more. Instead, Elizabeth would oversee the Empire’s transition into the Commonwealth, an entity in which she held a great deal of symbolic power and absolutely no political power — not that she held much hard political power anywhere else.

“It has been her duty to cede power and transfer sovereignty with a smile and a friendly handshake,” Hardman writes. “At the start of her reign, she was still expected to hand-pick prime ministers, to decide when to dissolve Parliament, even to vet her nation’s theatrical output and sail the world in a royal yacht. No more.” Brown describes the queen as “a master throughout her reign at the art of gracious retreats while somehow preserving the aura of sovereignty.”

Because of that aura of sovereignty, the queen was able to serve as a major political asset precisely as her actual powers diminished. Hardman argues that in the 1970s, while the UK’s economic and military might lessened, the queen’s popularity kept the nation “punching above its weight on the world stage.” He cites her 1976 state visit to France, after which then-President Valery Giscard d’Estaing went from considering Britain “weak” and himself “not an anglophile” to describing the queen as “a perfect sovereign” and “rejoicing” at the prospect of a “new entente” between “the two oldest nations in Europe.”

In 1975, a newly independent Papua New Guinea asked Elizabeth to serve as their ceremonial head of state. “They liked her,” Hardman explains, “they wanted someone neutral and they liked the honours and decorations which she was able to confer.”

Elizabeth’s blank slate, once again, was her superpower: It made her appear so neutral that it would be safe to give her enormous ceremonial powers. It was as though she could only embody the full power of the sovereign if she ceded the right to offer any opinions of what should be done with it.

Antony Jay, author of Elizabeth R , a 1992 biography that would be enormously influential within the walls of Buckingham Palace, thought of the queen as having two roles, unique to her and her reign. Hardman explains the split as follows: “The Queen was head of state, a predetermined and defined role which applied to every monarch. The second role was what Jay called ‘head of the nation’; this was more personal and less specific, encompassing her role as a ‘focus of allegiance’, a champion of continuity, dutiful public service and much else.”

The queen was head of the state because the laws of succession made her one. But she was head of the nation because her peculiar political skills, her deliberate blankness and steadfast devotion to duty, and her longevity, made her so well-suited for the task.

Hardman quotes former Prime Minister Tony Blair on the queen’s abilities. “The reason why she’s been so successful is that extraordinary ability she has to balance the mystique of the monarchy whilst moving with the culture of the country over time,” Blair said. “That is her unique intelligence and that’s what she does really well. In a small ‘p’ political sense — nothing to do with party politics — she has a near genius.”

With all signs of extraneous personality ruthlessly eradicated, the queen was free to serve as a symbol — of whatever her onlookers pleased, certainly, but also and most potently, of stability. Over seven decades on the throne, she served as a link between the end of an empire and the beginning of a cosmopolitan liberal democracy.

“It matters to people that she represents wartime sacrifice,” Hardman quotes Obama as saying. “She represents the acceptance of decolonization. She represents victory in the Cold War and she represents the values of a good relationship.”

Even Cuban leader Fidel Castro could see the political value Elizabeth offered. Hardman recounts an anecdote in which the prime minister of an unnamed Caribbean island was considering exiting the British commonwealth. Castro advised him that as long as Elizabeth didn’t interfere in the island’s day-to-day affairs, that would be a bad move. “You want to be a big tourist island and she’s good for showing off your stability,” he said.

So what will happen now , without the queen’s steady, unflinching presence?

“Take Elizabeth II out of the frame at the splendor of state dinners for visiting presidents, the solemn obsequies for fallen war heroes, and the glorious theater of the opening of Parliament, when the mere glimpse of her scarlet velvet ermine robe makes even the unruliest of MPs sit up straight, how will anyone know how to be British anymore?” writes Brown in The Palace Papers . “In an age when everyone has opinions, she has maintained the discipline of never revealing hers. Her epic stoicism has come to signify the endurance of the nation.”

Over the course of her nearly 70 years on the throne, the queen has served as a bridge between past and present, essential and implacable as concrete. Whatever her successor brings to the throne, it will have to be something quite different.

Correction, September 8, 3:40 pm ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the year President Obama gave remarks comparing the queen to Nelson Mandela; it was 2016.

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The Queen of the World

The paradox of Elizabeth II’s reign was that in presiding over a shrinking empire, she became a modern global monarch.

Q ueen Elizabeth II’s longevity alone places her in the pantheon of royal greats. At the time of her death, at Balmoral Castle today, she had served 70 years as Queen—the longest of any sovereign in the English monarchy’s 1,000-year history. But it is not simply her longevity that marks her for greatness, but her ability to stay relevant as the world changed around her.

She was the product of ancestral inheritance but was more popular than any of her prime ministers and remained head of state in countries around the world because of public support. She was in a sense a democratic Queen, a progressive conservative, an aristocratic multiculturalist.

Queen Elizabeth was a constitutional monarch, not a political leader with real powers, and one who was required to serve an ever-changing set of realms, peoples, institutions, and ideas that were no longer as obviously compatible as they had been when she ascended to the throne. The Queen’s great achievement was to honor the commitment she made to an imperial nation and its empire as a princess even as it became a multiethnic state and a Commonwealth.

When the Queen devoted her whole life to the service of Britain’s “great imperial family,” she meant it and honored it. And she did so in a way that brought more harmony than discord. Even as her nation’s influence shrank, the world embraced her.

1. The Globa l Introduction

In October 1940, a teenage Princess Elizabeth gave the first of what would be a lifetime of public speeches designed to move, embolden, and steady the nerves of an imperiled empire. At the time, the British empire was standing alone against Nazi Germany: France had been crushed, the Soviet Union had made a deal with Hitler, and the United States remained aloof from World War II. Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret, had traveled with their parents to record a message for the BBC that would be broadcast to “the children of the empire,” as well as children in the U.S.

The recording offers a glimpse of a time and place that is gone, as well as the first look at this representative of a new age, the age of Elizabeth. Hers would be an age not of world war and European empires, but of imperial retreat and American expansion; of the Cold War and the apparent end of history; of nationalism and globalization; of the space race and the internet.

For the 14-year-old princess, none of this was visible that day in 1940. The world that existed then faced the prospect of a Nazi-dominated Europe. Ostensibly, her message was to the children evacuated to the British countryside and to the Greater Britain that then existed beyond the seas, to evade German aerial bombardment of cities. In her clipped but childish tones, the young Elizabeth marvels at the lives being led in these far-flung corners of the world. “All the new sights you must be seeing, and the adventures you must be having,” she says , as if reading an exciting bedtime story. But then she turns to the central thrust of the message: a plea. “I am sure that you, too, are often thinking of the Old Country. I know you won’t forget us.”

Read: How The Crown , and its clothes, transform power

Here was the vulnerability at the core of Princess Elizabeth’s address. The Old Country was in trouble and needed help. Princess Elizabeth had been enlisted to ask for it, to do her duty—a task she would perform for decades to come.

During her reign, she weathered an array of crises, from her clashes with Margaret Thatcher to her mishandling of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. In doing so, she became the focus of something akin to a secular religion, the royalist historian David Starkey has noted, a form of “ British Shintoism ,” according to others such as Philip Murphy, a professor of British and Commonwealth history at the University of London.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21, 1926, as a princess to not simply a king but an emperor. She became Queen to a multitude of realms. A child of empire, European supremacy, and the old order—even the old faith, Anglican Christianity—she came to see it as her solemn duty to represent all the peoples and religions of the Commonwealth.

This duty created friction during her reign, but it made her different from any other European monarch and, paradoxically, kept her modern. A great irony of Queen Elizabeth II is that the most penetrating criticism of her reign came not from the republican left but from the nationalist right, parts of which saw past her image of continuity and tradition to the deep change that her rule actually represented.

On Princess Elizabeth’s 21st birthday, she delivered a radio broadcast that would define her life. Addressing all “the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire,” and specifically “the youth of the British family of nations,” she asked for their permission to speak as their representative. Delivered from Cape Town, South Africa, this was not a message to England, or Britain, or even the United Kingdom, but to the already fading empire.

The message was designed to inspire, but also to begin a transition. The princess declared that just as England had saved Europe from Napoleonic domination in the 19th century, the British empire had saved the world from Hitler in the 20th. The task now before the empire was just as pressing, she said: It needed to save itself.

“If we all go forward together with an unwavering faith, a high courage, and a quiet heart,” Elizabeth said, “we shall be able to make of this ancient commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing.” In doing so, the princess, with a politician’s sleight of hand, had endowed a relatively new construct, the British Commonwealth, with the myth of ancient roots. “I declare before you all,” she continued, “that my whole life whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

In 1947, such a commitment could still be made without embarrassment. Formally, India, the jewel in the British imperial crown, was not yet independent, though the legal process was under way and would become reality within months. The last vestiges of royal connection to Ireland had similarly not yet been cut. Soon, however, this apparently “ancient” family would undergo a revolution.

Read: The first Brexit was theological

In the early hours of February 6, 1952, King George VI, Elizabeth’s father, died in his sleep. She was in Kenya when she learned that she had become Queen. Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast the news, describing the Crown as “the magic link, which unites our loosely bound but strongly interwoven commonwealth of nations.” And yet, just five years after Elizabeth’s Cape Town address, the world had already changed to such an extent that to speak of a great imperial family, as Elizabeth had done, was no longer appropriate. By 1952, for example, India was not only independent, but a republic. This new Commonwealth comprised free and equal countries that voluntarily accepted Elizabeth as their symbolic head—a role with no real power for an organization with no real status.

She was Queen, then, but of what?

Her father had been crowned George VI of “Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas,” as well as “Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.” By the time the young Elizabeth was crowned, the title “Emperor of India” was obsolete. Yet even this did not go far enough. She was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth II, “Queen of this Realm and of all Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”

Although few paid much attention to the changes at the time, the new terminology caught the eye of one of the most influential and controversial British politicians of the postwar era, Enoch Powell. He had spotted that the new declaration contained within it imperial retreat and was dismayed. But this was not the real source of his fury—it was that Britain had been subsumed into a multinational structure that it no longer led. In Britain, Elizabeth would be “Queen of the United Kingdom,” but elsewhere she would have different titles, granted by different countries: Queen of Australia in Australia, Queen of Canada in Canada, and so forth.

What Powell had seen was that this marked a sea change not only for the Queen, but for Britain itself. What had been a single empire with a single sovereign was no longer—nor was it even a British Commonwealth. In its place was simply a Commonwealth with different peoples, each equal to the others, including that of the Old Country, whether or not they took the Queen as their monarch.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth had declared that she would give her whole life to the service of Britain’s great imperial family. When she became Queen, it was no longer clear what that really meant.

3. The Revolution

The change to the Queen’s title was, in fact, just another logical step down a road already taken. In 1948, Parliament had passed legislation revolutionizing the nature of British nationality itself, creating several separate citizenships within the empire. What had been a Greater Britain around the world, singular and indivisible, loyal to the King and empire, was no more. It had shrunk, leaving space for Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand nationalisms to flourish as separate identities, just as a Scotsman today can also be British.

The Queen’s title, therefore, was a sign of the coming age, a beacon in the fog of the 1950s lighting the way to the postimperial world that exists today.

For the ordinary Brit at home, glued to the television to watch the Queen’s coronation, much of this passed unnoticed. As Vernon Bogdanor writes in The Monarchy and the Constitution , the feelings of attachment to Britain in its former dominions, such as New Zealand and Canada, were taken for granted. In 1953, Australia’s prime minister, R. G. Menzies, spoke of the Queen passing on “a crown that will always be the sign and proof that, wherever we may be in the world, we are one people.” Menzies had in 1948 even said that “the boundaries of Britain do not lie on the Kentish Coast, they are to be found at Cape York and Invercargill.”

From the December 1943 issue: The education of a queen

Indeed, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, there seemed little reason to doubt the strength of this great global nation. The day before, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary had conquered Mount Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, planting the Union Jack on its peak. Welcoming the news, New Zealand’s prime minister declared how proud he was that an Englishman had been the first to climb the world’s highest mountain. During the Queen’s first royal tour of the Commonwealth, in 1953–54, she visited 13 countries, including Bermuda, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand, covering more than 40,000 miles in six months. In Australia, 6–7 million people turned out to see her, amounting to about 75 percent of the country’s population.

Only now is it possible to see the slow unwinding of this Greater British identity during the age of Elizabeth. An early glimpse came during her first visit to India and Pakistan as Queen, in 1961. Despite being head of the Commonwealth, of which India was a member, the Queen was invited only in her capacity as Queen of the United Kingdom. To do otherwise might have implied “the existence in some degree of authority residing in Her Majesty over the Republic of India,” Philip Murphy points out in Monarchy and the End of Empire . When the Commonwealth bumped up against the hard reality of Britain’s place in the postimperial world, there was no question that the Commonwealth had to stand aside.

It was scarcely appreciated then, but the Queen’s coronation—that great triumph of Britishness at the peak of its powers—was what signified the retreat. A moment of deep continuity for the Old Country was actually a moment of quiet revolution, turning Britain inward and setting a course that it would travel for the rest of her reign, culminating in a threat to the very future of Britain by the time of her death, with support for secession growing in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Britons did not know it at the time of her ascent, but they were once again an island people. Only their Queen was global.

4. The Reign

In retrospect, it was absurd to think that the Queen could be both British and global, sharing herself equally among her various realms. How can one person be Queen of the United Kingdom one moment and Queen of Australia the next, as well as head of a Commonwealth? In time, the practical reality revealed itself—the Queen was primarily Queen of the United Kingdom.

From 1952 to her death, she would meet 13 of the 14 U.S. presidents elected in that time (Lyndon B. Johnson being the exception). She did so as Britain’s head of state—in effect, Queen of the Old Country hiding in imperial clothes, representing a state that, in U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson’s infamous put-down , had lost an empire but not yet found a role.

Read: The Queen Mother’s odd letters

Through the 1960s and early ’70s, following Britain’s humiliation at Suez , the country sought to tilt away from the empire toward its special relationship with the United States and membership in the new European Community. Globally, this shift in priorities meant sacrificing imperial power for imagined influence over the new empire that had replaced Britain: the United States. In Europe, it meant sacrificing trade with the Commonwealth for markets on its doorstep. For many in Britain, this was a hard choice, given support for the old imperial connections, particularly to the Greater British dominions (or, more cynically, to the white Commonwealth) of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Yet successive British governments knew which direction they wanted to go in. In Africa, for example, Britain, unlike France, encouraged its former colonies not only to become independent, but to become republics . The loss of the empire was seen as a price worth paying for greater influence, and the Queen supported recognition of African nationalism. In 1960, when British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan remarked in a speech from South Africa that the “wind of change is blowing through this continent,” signaling the inevitability of decolonization, Elizabeth “took the unusual step of indicating her personal approval of Macmillan’s words,” Murphy records. Shortly after the speech, Macmillan received a telegram with a message from London that “the Queen was very interested and much impressed by the Prime Minister’s speech.” Four years later, the process of decolonization in East, West, and Central Africa was largely complete.

However, tensions between her role as global Queen and national Queen were inevitable—and duly came. Because the Queen was atop neither an empire nor an international body with a constitution like, say, the European Union, her title as head of the Commonwealth was unclear, unwritten, and, crucially, unlinked to her position as head of state in Britain or anywhere else. What happened if her two roles clashed?

In 1952, when the British dominions were part of an imagined Greater Britain or—outside the Indian subcontinent—the subjects of a still-vast empire, there was little scope for such a clash. By the 1960s, as the empire continued to be swept away, there was a very real prospect of friction.

The danger, as Powell had pointed out, was that in creating the fiction of the Commonwealth, the Queen risked losing the support of her people at home by appearing to have split loyalties. As the 1960s turned into the ’70s and ’80s, this prophecy seemed to be coming true. In an article in 1964, Powell spoke of the resentment of British people seeing their sovereign “playing an alien part as one of the characters in the Commonwealth charade.” The imperial monarchy, to which the Queen had devoted her life, appeared to be threatening the national monarchy.

Tensions really began to be felt when the Conservative Party in Britain elected as its leader a Powellite in the form of Margaret Thatcher, who seemed to have little time for the Commonwealth and even less sympathy for the policies of some of its more radical members. According to Murphy’s Monarchy and the End of Empire , Thatcher and her closest advisers joked that the acronym CHOGM—for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting—stood for “Compulsory Hand-Outs for Greedy Mendicants.”

In the Queen’s 1983 Christmas message, four years after Thatcher came to power, she appeared to champion the policies of India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, over those of her own government, adding that despite the progress that had been made on the subcontinent, “the greatest problem in the world today remains the gap between rich and poor countries, and we shall not begin to close this gap until we hear less about nationalism and more about interdependence.”

From the magazine: How to write about royalty

This was not a message from the Thatcherite script and its Cold War mentality. Powell said that the intervention suggested the Queen had “the interests and affairs of other countries in other continents as much, or more, at heart than those of her own people.”

Another clash between the global and national Queen came in 1986, when a number of countries were threatening to boycott the Commonwealth Games in protest of Thatcher’s opposition to sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Britain had been isolated on the issue, with the Queen notably avoiding taking Britain’s side. Sonny Ramphal, the Guyanese Commonwealth secretary-general, later recalled that “if the Queen hadn’t been there we might have gone on the rocks.”

Later that year, a series of articles began to appear in the British press revealing a rift between the Queen and her prime minister over the Commonwealth. A profile of Prince Charles in The Economist suggested that his views were considerably to the left of Thatcher’s. An article in the newspaper Today then suggested that the Queen was worried the division over sanctions could break up the Commonwealth, and had even urged Thatcher to change her views. Similar pieces appeared in The Times and The Daily Telegraph . Finally, The Sunday Times led its front page with the headline “Queen Dismayed by ‘Uncaring’ Thatcher,” calling her “The African Queen.”

Such revelations, which came close to constitutional-crisis territory, centered on the Queen’s split loyalties to Commonwealth and nation. Powell had warned that this split would make her look more concerned for the Commonwealth than for Britain. The Queen had become a champion of global multiculturalism at home and abroad. Almost by accident, she had become modern.

5. The Legacy

In some senses, Queen Elizabeth II leaves an ambiguous legacy. She stands above almost all of Britain’s British monarchs, but was one who oversaw a drastic shrinkage in the monarchy’s power, prestige, and influence. Such a legacy, however, does not do the Queen justice.

At the funeral of the former Israeli leader Shimon Peres in 2016, then–U.S. President Barack Obama likened him to some of the “other giants of the 20th century.” Obama, whose father was a Kenyan government official born in what was then part of the British empire, chose to name two figures: Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen’s role in the Commonwealth might have been a device to hide the reality of the British empire’s decline, but she did not believe so. The irony is that in doing her duty to this imperial shadow in the same way she did her duty to Britain, she was better able to symbolize a modern, multicultural Britain and the world of the 21st century than logic might suggest was possible for an aristocratic European princess. Indeed, she is more popular in many African Commonwealth countries today than the former white dominions, which may soon choose to become republics and long ago stopped seeing themselves as British.

Yet her death has given rise to a sense of unease. Her eldest son, Charles, seems an unlikely figure for the British Shintoism that built up around his mother. Whatever his merits, such has been the nature of his life, lived in the glare of the modern world—of Diana and Camilla , The Crown and the tabloids—that it looks impossible to re-create the kind of worship that attached itself to the Queen.

Read: What Meghan Markle means for the royal family

Generations have known nothing but the Queen. She became almost above reproach, an icon on a wall, a symbol. Charles, by contrast, is human and flawed and distinctly reproachable. With the Queen goes the monarchy’s protective shield. Can the next generation escape the tarnish of racism leveled by Harry and Meghan, or the scandals of Prince Andrew?

Beyond Britain, will Australia and New Zealand and Canada accept Charles as their King, as they did Elizabeth in 1952? And what of the Queen’s other great love, the Commonwealth? It has already agreed to let Charles inherit his mother’s leadership. But how long can such an institution really survive? In an era of Black Lives Matter and imperial guilt, can an African child once again be pictured kneeling before some distant European monarch, as happened for the Queen’s diamond jubilee, in 2012?

None of these questions is answerable for now. Much rests on Charles himself. Can he show the lifelong restraint of his mother, the dignity and duty, the reserve and careful calculation? Will events blow him off course?

When King George VI died, Winston Churchill paid tribute to him in the House of Commons, before turning to his new Queen. “So far I have spoken of the past, but with the new reign we must all feel our contact with the future,” the prime minister said. “She comes to the throne at a time when a tormented mankind stands uncertainly poised between world catastrophe and a golden age.” For Churchill, such a golden age was possible only with “a true and lasting peace.” He then concluded: “Let us hope and pray that the accession to our ancient throne of Queen Elizabeth II may be the signal for such a brightening salvation of the human scene.”

Looking back on her reign, it is clear that the age of Elizabeth really was golden: an age of extraordinary prosperity, European peace, human rights, and the collapse of Soviet tyranny. Queen Elizabeth II— the Queen—was one of the great symbols of that age, though not a creator of it, a servant rather than a master. But if her legacy is anything, it is that symbols and service matter, even as what they symbolize and serve bend and bow to meet the new reality.

• International edition
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Tributes on death of Queen Elizabeth – as it happened

This live blog is closed. Follow our new live blog here

• 9 Sept 2022 China’s president Xi Jinping offers ‘sincere sympathies’
• 9 Sept 2022 What happens today
• 9 Sept 2022 Summary
• 9 Sept 2022 Charles to be formally proclaimed king at accession council on Saturday
• 9 Sept 2022 'Our beloved Queen is dead': how UK papers covered the moment
• 8 Sept 2022 UN secretary general pays tribute to 'grace and dignity' of Queen
• 8 Sept 2022 Duchess of York says she is 'heartbroken"' at Queen's death
• 8 Sept 2022 King Charles expected to have audience with PM on Friday
• 8 Sept 2022 Australian PM pays tribute to the Queen
• 8 Sept 2022 Public expected to be able to pay respects at Queen's coffin in St Giles' cathedral in Edinburgh
• 8 Sept 2022 UK prime minister informed of the Queen's death at 4.30pm
• 8 Sept 2022 German chancellor says Queen 'will be missed, not least her wonderful humour'
• 8 Sept 2022 Church bells to be tolled for Queen Elizabeth II across England on Friday
• 8 Sept 2022 William and Kate now Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge
• 8 Sept 2022 President Biden pays tribute to the Queen
• 8 Sept 2022 French president Macron pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II
• 8 Sept 2022 King Charles III makes first statement as monarch after death of his mother
• 8 Sept 2022 Liz Truss pays tribute to the Queen outside Downing Street
• 8 Sept 2022 Prime minister due to make statement at Downing Street
• 8 Sept 2022 Prince Charles becomes king immediately
• 8 Sept 2022 Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96

We are closing this live blog. For all the latest updates on the death of the Queen, head over to our new live blog here:

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, left Balmoral alone at about 8.15am this morning , with the convoy passing flowers that had been laid as tributes to his late grandmother. Guardian photographer Murdo MacLeod captured the poignant moment.

Hundreds of mourners have been gathering outside Buckingham Palace from early this morning, reports my colleague Geneva Abdul .

Many were continuing to lay bouquets against the palace gates with touching tributes thanking the Queen for her years of service and dedication. Rose, who asked not to use her last name, was one of many laying flowers before starting their workday. “She’s done such a wonderful job for our country,” said Rose. “I respected her Christian faith, I’m really sorry we’ve lost such a great monarch.” Rose recently lost her father whose funeral is next week, she shared as her eyes began to water, adding, she feels on a similar path of grief as the royal family. “I’m grieving for my father and grieving for the queen now as well,” said Rose, who recalled standing on the streets for Princess Diana’s funeral. “I very much hope I can be here for the queens funeral as well, standing on the streets somewhere to pay my respects.” Jane and Glenn Oxford, visiting London for the weekend, made their way to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects, but we’re unable to find a bouquet to pay tribute with all the surrounding shops sold out. “We just had to come, because she was just so much for everybody she gave her life for this country and I think that’s just so special,” said Jane fighting back tears. “She had dignity all her life, she’s done so many things and never moaned at all, and that’s great. Not many people can do that, so, good on you Liz,” said Glenn.

The King has declared that a period of official Royal Mourning will be observed from today lasting until seven days after the Queen’s state funeral , reports Caroline Davies .

Royal Mourning is observed by members of the royal family, as well as staff in the royal households, and troops on ceremonial duties. It has also been announced that gun salutes, one round fired for each of the Queen’s 96 years, will be fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London at 1pm as the nation enters a period of national mourning, the details of which will be announced by the government. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King’s wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen’s Funeral. The date of the Funeral will be confirmed in due course. “Royal Mourning will be observed by Members of the Royal Family, Royal Household staff and Representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to Ceremonial Duties. “Flags at Royal Residences were half masted yesterday, Thursday 8 th September, and will remain half-masted until 0800hrs on the morning after the final day of Royal Mourning.” The half-masting of flags at Royal Residences does not apply to the Royal Standard and the Royal Standard in Scotland when the King is in residence, as they are always flown at full mast. Guidance on flags at other public buildings has been issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Royal gun salutes will be fired in London at 1pm, in Hyde Park by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery, with one round fired for each year of the Queen’s life. There will be no physical books of condolence at royal residences, but an online Book of Condolence for those who wish to leave messages is available on the Royal website . Dedicated sites for floral tributes from the public have been set up, in Green Park and Hyde Park near Buckingham Palace in London. In Windsor a dedicated site has been set up at Cambridge Gate on the Long Walk, with flowers brought inside the castle every evening, and placed on the Castle Chapter grass on the south side of St George’s Chapel and Cambridge Drive. At the Sandringham Estate, members of the public are encouraged to leave floral tributes at the Norwich Gates. At Balmoral Castle, floral tributes can be left at the Main Gate. At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, members of the public are encouraged to give floral tributes to the Wardens at the entrance to The Queen’s Gallery, which will be laid on the forecourt grass in front of the North Turret of the Palace. At Hillsborough Castle, floral tributes may be laid on the Castle forecourt, in front of the main gates. All royal residences will remain closed to the public until after the Queen’s state funeral, which is expected to be on Monday September 19, although that has not yet been officially confirmed. This includes The Queen’s Gallery, and Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh. The Queen’s private estates at Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, will also close for this period, as will Hillsborough Castle, the Queen’s official residence in Northern Ireland.

Aberdeenshire council has laid on special buses to take well-wishers to Balmoral from the nearby villages of Braemar and Ballater , to avoid the main road being overwhelmed by parked cars and queues, writes Scotland editor Severin Carrell .

He’s also taken some pics of messages left on bouquets. Beautiful note from a little girl called Tilly, which simply says: “Love you Queen.”

pic.twitter.com/0njxHEHgxL — Severin Carrell (@severincarrell) September 8, 2022

It said dedicated park and ride facilities had been set up in both villages, and a disabled parking zone at the nearer settlement of Crathie, to ferry well-wishers to and from the castle gates. It urged well-wishers not to bring soft toys, candles or photographs – in part because of the heavy rain soaking Royal Deeside on Thursday morning. “Members of the public are advised that there will be limited rest facilities at the estate and are asked to return to Ballater or Braemar after paying their respects. There will be neither the space nor the facilities to allow the public to gather in the area. There will also be restrictions regarding what can be taken on the buses, with signage in the locations to this effect,” the council said. “In particular, only floral tributes will be permitted – no other items such as candles, soft toys or photographs should be brought. “Please also be aware the weather is very wet and queueing is likely, so please dress appropriately as there is no shelter.”

In Edinburgh the authorities are preparing for large crowds near Holyroodhouse and around the Old Town, writes the Guardian’s Mark Brown .

Mourners start to arrive at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, one of the first is Andrew Anderson. “She was a constant in my life, I had to come.” pic.twitter.com/vV9MKBr9wX — Mark Brown (@markbrown14) September 9, 2022

One of the first to arrive at Holyroodhouse was 40-year-old council worker Andrew Anderson who had set off from Balloch, Loch Lomond, at 5.30am to lay flowers. “I heard the news and knew I had to come. I thought Balmoral would be too busy so i came here. She’s been a constant in my life. When I heard I just felt lost. It’s a common phrase but it’s true, the world is a sadder place.”

The front gates of Buckingham Palace are filling with floral tributes , wedged between the black rails or laid on the pavement, writes the Guardian’s Chief Reporter Daniel Boffey .

A few thousand people at the gates of Buckingham Palace. Joggers, commuters and cyclists, who are taking a moment to reflect as they pass through, are as prominent as those who had travelled into London early this morning for the sole purpose of commemorating the Queen's passing. pic.twitter.com/nuULEU7UdJ — Daniel Boffey (@danielboffey) September 9, 2022

The vast majority of people, a few thousand now, had simply been passing by and decided to take a moment to reflect. Joggers, byciclists, suit wearing commuters, are just as prominent as those who travelled into central London in the early hours for the sole purpose of commemorating the Queen’s passing. Sam Knight, 26, said the loss of the Queen had brought back memories of bereavements in her own family. “I just thought I would come before work to mark it”, she said. The palace’s empty balcony was the focus for others. “That is what did upset me - thinking she won’t be up there again”, said James Hall, 31.

Severin Carrell has been speaking to mourners outside Balmoral .

A local resident, Lizzie, and her two children pay their respects at #Balmoral , despite the persistent rain, where flowers have been laid at the gates to the estate #QueenElizabeth pic.twitter.com/ZKfZMjQfGU — Severin Carrell (@severincarrell) September 9, 2022

Kay McClement, 58, a local holiday park owner, was amongst the well-wishers braving the rain to lay flowers alongside the granite gate to Balmoral on Thursday morning. “She was such a wonderful woman,” she said, as she walked to the gate with her friend Sarah McCoshim[cor], 56. “She’s just everything you would want in a mum and a grandmother, and we want to come and pay our respects. Because we’re local, it feels like something deep inside you.” McCoshim, 56, who works for Marks & Spencers, remembered being in London when Princess Diana died. “Myself and my colleagues just felt, as thousands did, we just had to go, just to pay our respects and feel that connection. It just evokes a feeling, and I do feel the same now. I was cleaning my carpets all day yesterday and had the telly on constantly: I just felt that connection. She was an incredibly special person.”

The former British prime minister Theresa May has said audiences with the “immensely knowledgeable ” Queen were the only meetings as leader where everything that was said would remain private.

She said the meetings involved “talking about the affairs of the day, in a sense tapping into her wisdom and that knowledge that she had from her great experience”.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, she said:

She was a very acute judge of people and was able often to give those little, if you like, pen portraits of people that she knew, that she’d met. And sometimes it was a case of not just the individual but actually a sort of history of that individual, of her experiences of particular countries, particular issues. There was often that twinkle in the eye, and that magnificent smile that would break out and that calmed so many people’s nerves and made so many people feel at ease.

The Dalai Lama has expressed his “deep sadness” over the death of the Queen in a letter to King Charles III . He told the King his mother had lead “a meaningful life”.

I remember seeing photographs of her coronation in magazines when I was young in Tibet. Her reign, as Britain’s longest-serving monarch, represented celebration, inspiration and a reassuring sense of continuity for so many people alive today. Your mother lived a meaningful life with dignity, grace, a strong sense of service and a warm heart, qualities we all should treasure.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning.

He said that the Queen could make anyone she met feel like they were the only person in the room.

There were hundreds of events every year which she attended. And she was the one – and again it runs in the family, I’ve seen His Majesty do the same thing – who could go into a room full of people or walk down a crowded street, and everyone she spoke to felt that they were the only person there. She was never looking over their shoulder to see if there was somebody a bit more interesting. Everybody got her attention.

I think part of her great service that was unseen, as one former prime minister I heard say, that there’s only one person in the world that he could talk to and say exactly what he thought and felt and was 100% certain that it would never go any further. And I think that that was a hidden service. She was a place of confidences, and of accumulating wisdom.

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The death of Queen Elizabeth II: September 8, 2022

By Aditi Sangal , Rob Picheta , Adrienne Vogt , Ed Upright, Lauren Said-Moorhouse , Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Melissa Macaya, CNN

BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth II has died, Buckingham Palace announces

From CNN's Rob Picheta in London

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch whose rule spanned seven decades, died on Thursday at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, on the death of her father, King George VI. She oversaw the last throes of the British empire, weathered global upheaval and domestic scandal, and dramatically modernized the monarchy.

She died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after doctors said they had become concerned about her health on Thursday.

Elizabeth ruled over the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms, and became one of the most recognizable women ever to have lived. Her son, Charles, immediately became King upon her death.

Prince Harry is traveling to Scotland from London, UK news agency says

From CNN's Lauren Kent

Prince Harry is traveling to Balmoral from London, according to the UK’s PA Media news agency. 

The Duke of Sussex was originally scheduled to attend the WellChild Awards in London on Thursday, which celebrates the inspirational qualities of seriously ill children and young people in the United Kingdom.

Harry canceled an appearance at the charity awards ceremony in London to fly to Scotland in the wake of fellow royals who have also travelled to Aberdeenshire, PA reported. 

He is on his way to Balmoral separately from other royals but has been in coordination with other family members' plans, a spokesperson for the Sussexes told CNN earlier on Thursday. 

Royal family likely waiting for Prince Harry to arrive before any announcements are made, CNN reporter says

Prince Harry is still en route to Balmoral Castle, CNN royal correspondent Max Foster reports, and the family is likely waiting for him to arrive before any announcements on Queen Elizabeth II are made.

Prince Harry is traveling to Balmoral from London, according to UK’s PA Media news agency. 

"We know Prince William's arrived as well. I think we are only waiting on Prince Harry. We're relying on local photographers here because you know this has only just happened and they've been based up there so we're waiting to see images come through," Foster said on CNN. "I think once Prince Harry is in there, whilst he's not a working role but he's still a senior member, still very high up in the line of succession. I think they want him there before any announcements were made. It would seem dismissive I think if the announcements were made before they were all inside behind those gates at Balmoral Castle. And then you need a bit of time for them to regroup a well."

Foster also described the family's rushed arrival to Balmoral Castle in Scotland earlier Thursday to be with Queen Elizabeth II as news of her declining health broke.

"They normally travel separately. They are all in one car. Their faces are stark. Prince Andrew in the front very close to the Queen and Prince Edward also increasingly close to the Queen in recent years because he has been taking on more and more responsibilities and you know we just have to look at those faces and try to read what we can into them and they are all in the same car and they didn't have to be. It feels to me like they... rushed to get there as quickly as possible and this was the most efficient way," Foster said in reference to a photo of members of the Royal family arriving at the castle.

The Queen's well-wishers gather outside Buckingham Palace

From CNN's Christian Edwards

Dozens of onlookers, tourists and well-wishers of Queen Elizabeth II gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday following the news that the monarch was under medical supervision.

Many people have also gathered near the Queen Victoria Memorial, across from the Palace. Others are staring through the gates. 

The Queen is not currently in her London residence — the Palace said in a statement earlier on Thursday that she "remains comfortable and at Balmoral" castle in Scotland.  

The rain and gray skies did little to stop London tour guide Nicholas Player, 41, from visiting the palace once he finished work.

He described the news of the Queen's ill health as "sad" but told CNN he had every hope she would recover.

"She is part of everyone's life; she's bridged the gap between many age groups," he said as he held an umbrella with a Union Jack design.

"(She's) the grandmother of the nation, really, and I don't think there's one person who really doesn't like her," he added.

CNN's Anna Stewart contributed to this report.

Photo shows Prince William driving Andrew, Edward and Sophie into Balmoral

Prince William has been photographed driving the Queen's sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, along with Edward's wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, into Balmoral Castle.

The group of royals entered the estate moments ago after traveling to Scotland to be with the Queen.

Fleet of cars believed to be carrying Prince William and other royals arrived at Balmoral, UK media says

A convoy of vehicles containing Prince William and other members of the royal family has driven into Balmoral Castle through the main gate, per live visuals and UK media.

"A fleet of cars believed to be carrying the Duke of Cambridge, Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex arrived at Balmoral just after 5pm. The plane carrying the royal party had arrived at Aberdeen Airport just before 4pm," according to the UK’s PA Media news agency.

Prince Harry is also on his way to the castle, a spokesperson for the Sussexes told CNN.

Biden conveyed thoughts regarding the Queen's health to UK PM Liz Truss, US official says

From CNN's Betsy Klein

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on news that Queen Elizabeth II’s doctors are concerned for her health as members of the Royal Family travel to Balmoral, Scotland, and conveyed well wishes to British Prime Minister Liz Truss during a call Thursday. 

“The President has been briefed, of course, this morning and will be updated throughout the day concerning news out of the United Kingdom,” John Kirby, the National Security Council director for strategic communications, told reporters Thursday. 

“His and the first lady’s thoughts are solidly and squarely with the Queen today and her family,” Kirby said.  

Biden, Kirby added, “did convey to Prime Minister Truss, who was on the video teleconference (with allies and partners regarding Ukraine) that he and Dr. Biden are thinking very much about the Queen and the family and the people of the United Kingdom.”

The spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has also voiced the UN chief’s thoughts to the British royals.

“I think we’re all following the developing story in the United Kingdom, and I just want to say from the secretary general’s point of view, that his thoughts are with the Queen, her family, and the people of the United Kingdom at this time," UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

CNN’s Richard Roth and Zenebou Sylla contributed reporting to this post.

Prince Harry is en route to Balmoral separately from other royals

From CNN's Sugam Pokharel

Prince Harry is on his way to Balmoral separately from other royals, but has been in coordination with other family members' plans, a spokesperson for the Sussexes told CNN. 

Clarification: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is not traveling to Balmoral with Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, a spokesperson for the Sussexes clarified in a note to CNN. It is not clear if Meghan will potentially join at a later date. 

UK PM Liz Truss does not currently have plans to travel to Scotland on Thursday or Friday

There are no plans currently for UK Prime Minister Liz Truss to travel to Scotland on Thursday or Friday, UK's PA Media news agency reported citing a Downing Street spokesperson.

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Queen Elizabeth II, in her own words: Her most memorable remarks

LONDON — Speeches from Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday, punctuated key moments of her 70 years on the throne — giving insights into her family, faith and sense of duty.

Her remarks provide snapshots of what was going on in her personal life and British public life. Here are some of the most memorable.

On her 21st birthday: April 21, 1947

Princess Elizabeth was on a tour of South Africa with her parents and younger sister Margaret when she turned 21 years old. In a speech broadcast on the radio from Cape Town, she dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth, in one of her earliest public addresses.

“This is a happy day for me; but it is also one that brings serious thoughts, thoughts of life looming ahead with all its challenges and with all its opportunity,” the young Elizabeth said.

Still a princess, she went on to make a profound royal pledge: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

On her Coronation Day: June 2, 1953

The queen ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, after the death of her father, King George VI, but her coronation took place in 1953, when she was 27. Her husband, Philip, had urged that the event be televised for the first time, and millions in the United Kingdom and abroad watched the broadcast by the BBC from London’s Westminster Abbey.

Following the event that placed the royal family firmly in people’s living rooms, Elizabeth, in a broadcast to the nation that evening, reflected on the day’s momentous events.

“Although my experience is so short and my task so new, I have in my parents and grandparents an example which I can follow with certainty and with confidence,” she said. “As this day draws to its close, I know that my abiding memory of it will be, not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony, but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection. I thank you all from a full heart.”

‘Annus Horribilis’: Nov. 24, 1992

In 1992, the queen gave a speech in London to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession to the throne, wherein she famously defined the year in Latin as an “annus horribilis” — or a horrible year.

She remarked: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an ‘Annus Horribilis.’ I suspect that I am not alone in thinking it so.”

Her speech came days after a major fire at Windsor Castle, a royal residence, and after three of her children’s marriages, including that of Prince Charles and Diana, collapsed, generating reams of tabloid headlines that cast a critical spotlight on British royal life.

Maintaining a quintessential British stiff upper lip, the monarch welcomed scrutiny of her role. “Criticism is good for people and institutions that are part of public life,” she said. “No institution — city, monarchy, whatever — should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t.”

She added, “But we are all part of the same fabric of our national society, and that scrutiny, by one part of another, can be just as effective if it is made with a touch of gentleness, good humor and understanding.”

She did not repeat the Latin phrase again publicly, but some royal pundits speculated that she may have been tempted to do so in 2019, after her husband was involved in a public car crash, her grandsons Princes William and Harry publicly fell out, and her second son Prince Andrew became entangled in links to the disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

On the death of Princess Diana: Sept. 5, 1997

After the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris shook the world, the queen spoke to the nation live from Buckingham Palace.

“Since last Sunday’s dreadful news we have seen, throughout Britain and around the world, an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana’s death. We have all been trying in our different ways to cope,” she said.

“I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her — for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys,” the queen said in an effort to comfort a stunned nation after facing media criticism for being slow to publicly react.

“No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her. I for one believe there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death,” she said.

Diana died at 36 and left behind two young princes, who have both since spoken about how her death affected the way they shape their royal roles and public life.

On the death of Prince Philip: April 9, 2021

Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on April 9, 2021.

“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband,” the palace statement said . Philip died at Windsor Castle, and his funeral days later and during the coronavirus pandemic was televised globally. The event yielded moving images of the elderly queen, now a widow, starkly sitting alone in keeping with pandemic restrictions.

Elizabeth, whom Philip affectionately called Lilibet, had spoken of him in 1997 when the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, calling him her “strength and stay.”

At the time, she recounted events over the 50 years of their marriage, including the end of the Cold War, the Beatles, humans traveling to the moon, the introduction of television, mobile phones and the internet, and England’s winning the soccer World Cup, as well as “the joys of having children and grandchildren” together.

“All too often, I fear, Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking. Frequently we have discussed my intended speech beforehand and, as you will imagine, his views have been expressed in a forthright manner. He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”

After her husband’s death, she did not directly address the nation, but a phrase resurfaced that the queen had previously sent in a message to the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: “Grief is the price we pay for love,” she said.

Annual Christmas speeches

The queen gave thousands of speeches at royal engagements to heads of state and diplomats, when inaugurating buildings and boats, and annually at Christmas. The latter grew to become a social staple and British holiday tradition, as her yuletide speeches were peppered with words of wisdom, faith and occasionally personal reflections from the nonagenarian.

“In the old days, the monarch led his soldiers on the battlefield, and his leadership at all times was close and personal. Today things are very different,” she said in her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957. “I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

In 1974, her Christmas message alluded to violence in Northern Ireland and in the Middle East, and she encouraged people globally to seek the path of peace and reconciliation. “We may hold different points of view, but it is in times of stress and difficulty that we most need to remember that we have much more in common than there is dividing us,” she said .

In 2002, despite celebrating 50 years on the throne during her Golden Jubilee, she also mourned the death of her mother and sister within a few weeks of each other. In her Christmas message that year, she reflected on the need for humanity amid crisis.

“Our modern world places such heavy demands on our time and attention that the need to remember our responsibilities to others is greater than ever,” she said .

And finally, perhaps for many, a quip that the queen made to her aides, as reported by her royal biographer, may be her most charming comment. “I have to be seen to be believed,” she joked.

Celebration of her Platinum Jubilee: Feb. 6, 2022

In February, the queen reached a historic milestone: becoming the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of her reign. The United Kingdom celebrated during a four-day holiday in June with pomp and ceremony, street parties, musical concerts and military parades.

It was the last time the queen would publicly stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, alongside her family, waving to millions of people who had flocked to see her.

“I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me,” she said, “and hope that the coming days will provide an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the last 70 years, as we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.”

Elizabeth previously celebrated her Silver Jubilee in 1977, Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

She died at her home in Balmoral Castle, Scotland, at 96.

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The death of Queen Elizabeth II: Media culture and the future of the monarchy

• Fernanda Pires

The British Royal family is noted for its branding prowess. As media culture has changed tremendously over the years, what can the implications of these changes be when it comes to portraying and covering the monarchy?

Kali Israel , a University of Michigan associate professor of history, studies modern and contemporary British and Scottish history. She offers insights about Queen Elizabeth’s passing, media representation and future ties of some countries to the British monarchy.

Obviously, there has been a media frenzy covering the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Historically, what is the main difference between the media culture now and in the 1980s and ’90s? 

Despite many arguments—positives or negatives—the monarchy hasn’t shifted much over the last decades, unlike the media. There was a great deal of discussion and criticism of it in the 1980s, but by comparison to some other constitutional issues, relatively little changed. 

Setting the internet aside for the moment, over the last 10 to 15 years there’s been an absolute explosion in media representations of royals and royal history, ranging from “The Crown” to “The King’s Speech” to TV series and feature films about their lives. There’s been an increase of soap opera-ish representations of royal families, documentaries—and overtly fictitious ones—but also a lot of stuff that falls in between.

Many people take those representations and think, “I know these people, I know the inside story. I like her because of what she’s like, or I despise him because I know what he is like.” So the media has personalized it. They talk about the monarchy in terms of individual subjective relationships, of emotion.

That’s very different from media representation in the past. In the ’80s, there was a lot of focus on constitutional issues, even with the scandalous side around Charles and Diana, etc. Whereas in the present, there is so much more focus on the soap opera side of it. 

What is the impact of the way the media portrays the British monarchy? 

In a strange way, the way the media portrays the royals now may have helped in the sense of—I don’t want to say polarized—making certain divisions clearer. People whose commitment to the monarchy, or who like the monarchy or claim to love individual parts of the royal family, may have become more committed.

But it brought out some of the darker sides for people whose soap opera side doesn’t work. It’s helped sharpen the sense for some that this is all a load of tosh and has increased the complicated questions. Why are the individual stories out there instead of media pieces on money, power, race and empire? Those are issues that are not so easy to televise.

How has the media represented now King Charles III over the years? How will this coverage influence his current image?

Over a number of years, there have been a fairly drawn-out issues around Charles attempting to intervene or influence in government. You didn’t see much  about that in shows like “The Crown.” That’s not the kind of thing that makes television. 

Overall, Charles has some particular unpopularity. That is based not just on the history of his personal life but on how, over many decades, he has attempted to exercise political power. He has engaged in financial conduct, for example, that has raised questions, trying to shape the laws in a way that will be beneficial to his personal tax.

Not necessarily correctly, the queen was often seen as someone who stayed out of politics, Charles doesn’t have that cloak. So people will pay more attention. 

The queen’s media representation and branding efforts appeared to work. While support for the monarchy has been on the decline in Britain, Elizabeth herself was highly popular until her death. Will King Charles have the same strength and appeal globally?  

Short answer: no. But the process by which, for example, some nations in the Commonwealth have taken measures to define themselves as republics, which is to say, no longer acknowledging a king or queen in even a symbolic or ceremonial way, will probably continue and Charles’ accession won’t do anything to stop that (nor should it).

Even if it might seem only symbolic power, and the monarchy’s power is not just symbolic, now we’ve got different symbols. Conversations about the legacies of the empire, slavery and violence, and also a discussion on these nations’ own self-identity, can’t be evaded or submerged in a nostalgia that many millions of people do not share for very good reasons.

These conversations are meaningful and much more significant than all of the queen’s symbolism. This transition from Elizabeth to Charles III opens that question that many people will answer differently: “Why shouldn’t this be the end of the line rather than a continuation?”

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Opinion: We're Not All Grieving the Queen's Death

There are certain world events that occur, and you just know that you'll always remember where you were when you first heard the news. Sept. 8, 2022, the day Queen Elizabeth II died , will certainly be one of those moments in time for many of us. And yet nothing has exposed the deep fissures in our global community quite like this. As announcements of her death hit social media and interrupted broadcast television, a range of opinions and emotions exploded onto the scene.

Many (mostly white) people (minus the Irish, who haven't forgotten the brutal 30-year conflict fought in Northern Ireland during the Queen's tenure ) began to eulogize the Queen with sanitized recollections of her life and legacy. Meanwhile, people of color and commonwealth nations around the world have expressed anger at the 70-year reign that only existed on our backs. As Fred T. Joseph said in a recent Instagram Reel , "there's never a bad time ever to talk about oppression… Someone passing away doesn't suddenly absolve them of the things that they've done, especially if they didn't do anything to correct the ways they've harmed people or benefitted from harm unaddressed while they were living."

While some of the social media jokes and commentary has been deemed insensitive from those who call for respect at this time, it's important for people to recognize the complex emotions at play from the pain that people of color have had to swallow whole for centuries. We've had to watch the Queen — and Buckingham Palace as a whole — parade the monarchy's wealth and power, evidence of colonialism. We've paid entrance fees to walk around museums with spoils from our nations. We've been regularly told to respect protocols and show decorum when said niceties have only brought our people theft and death. Why should we be expected to mourn someone who never exercised empathy toward the people who lived under her thumb? Cornel West once shared something during a speech at Harvard that everyone should keep in mind during moments like this: "you must let suffering speak, if you want to hear the truth".

Why should we be expected to mourn someone who never exercised empathy toward the people who lived under her thumb?

During her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth II maintained all of the remnants of colonization, from the diamonds that she wore to the wealth she exhibited.

Queen Elizabeth II has ruled since 1952, and in doing so enacted many policies and laws that disadvantaged people of color. Her reign, for example, marked the beginning of the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya . The eight-year-long fight for Kenyan independence was drawn out by violent policies that pushed Kenyan farmers off of their land. More than 1.5 million people were forced into concentration camps and over a million more were pushed into poverty as they mourned the deaths of their loved ones and neighbors. While approximately 5,000 fighters have received compensation for their pain and suffering, many have not. Muthoni Mathenge , an elderly woman and former independence fighter, is one of the many who have gotten nothing. In a recent interview she declares, "Let [Queen Elizabeth II] give me a just compensation, because she is the ruler. Let Elizabeth bring what belongs to me."

The violence of the Queen's leadership doesn't end there. Documents unearthed in 2021 revealed how Queen Elizabeth II went out of her way to ensure that "coloured immigrants or foreigners" wouldn't be employed at Buckingham Palace , except as domestic servants. This practice lasted for the first few decades of her time as Queen, shielded in large part by clauses that ensured members of the Royal family would be exempt from laws barring race and gender discrimination.

And in a more recent blow to the current movement to end gender-based violence and meaningfully address rape culture, Queen Elizabeth II has shielded her son, Prince Andrew , from accountability for allegations of sexual abuse in connection to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

All of this to say, the death of Queen Elizabeth II is rife with emotion and complexity. And we'd be remiss not to acknowledge the strange dissonance people are experiencing right now. While some view her as an icon and " kind-hearted queen ," to others she represents a painful history of violence, oppression, and disadvantage. Many of us aren't grieving a head of state, but rather grieving truth as we watch history be rewritten right before our eyes. It feels discouraging, to paraphrase Brittany Packnett Cunningham , despite the many racial justice reckonings we've had that many opt for decorum over the impoliteness of radical honesty. As Black woman and activist, I for one did not pray to God to save the Queen — nor will I be flying any literal or figurative flags at half-mast. I'd much rather bring respite and reparations to the victims of British colonialism. May the monarchy, and all systems of oppression and exploitation, end with her.

Brea Baker is an activist and writer known for contributing op-eds, reported pieces, and personal essays on race, gender, and politics. Hailing from New York, but based in Georgia, Brea enjoys writing pieces that boost our collective imagination and allow us to co-create the society we want to be part of.

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Lesson Plan: The Life and Legacy of Queen Elizabeth II

Britain’s longest-reigning monarch died on Thursday at the age of 96. Learn about her seven-decade reign, as well as what is next for the British monarchy.

The Legacy of Elizabeth II: The Media Queen

Queen elizabeth ii, the longest-reigning monarch in british history, died at the age of 96, leaving behind a legacy that blended the ancient and the modern with the help of mass media..

“It’s inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you. When I was 21, I pledged my life to the service of our people. I am glad to have had the chance to witness and to take part in many dramatic changes in life, in this country. And with the support of my family, rededicate myself to the service of our great country.” “Queen Elizabeth II ushered the monarchy into a new and radically different era. Her reign blended the ancient and the modern. When she became queen, the country was still reeling from the memory of the Second World War. Her coronation in 1953 was the first royal event of its kind to be broadcast live on television. And it offered the British hope that something better was in the offing.” [cheering] “By then, the royal family was accustomed to broadcasting its message. In 1940, as Princess Elizabeth, the queen gave her first radio address.” “Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from your fathers and mothers.” “She was age 14, and Britain faced what Churchill called its finest hour in the war against Germany. Newsreel clips showed her parents inspecting the damage of bombing attacks on London.” “And the knowledge that their king and queen are among them, they were actually caught in a raid and had to take shelter during this particular visit, has greatly heartened the people.” “The royals understood the power of imagery, and television showed what the monarchy did best. The pageantry that celebrated its position, reinforcing its stature and the vital mystique that underpinned it.” “For the first time since her coronation, we saw the great state coach, ornate, gilded, richly painted. Perhaps the world’s most beautiful anachronism.” “This was technology that molded and massaged the information that reached the public about an ancient and distant institution. In the more than 60 years of the queen’s reign, the empire shrank back essentially to its island core, and she came to preside over a different nation, far less ready to acknowledge her, far less deferential, more assertive, more wealth-driven, greedier some people thought. It became increasingly important to use mass media and television where radio had sufficed in the past to control the royal narrative and uphold its importance. Above all, she created the impression of a royal household headed by a woman beyond all reproach, whose behavior was never, ever questioned. But upholding this image was not easy.” “We interrupt this film to tell you we are getting reports that Diana,” “Princess of Wales has died” “after a car crash in Paris.” “They were apparently being pursued by paparazzi on two motorcycles.” “After the death of Princess Diana in 1997, the Queen almost lost public sympathy irrevocably, seeming very, very distant, almost aloof. She appeared reluctant to respond to a yearning among the public for her to acknowledge the national mood of mourning. It was several days before she finally went on television and addressed the nation.” “Since last Sunday’s dreadful news, we have seen throughout Britain and around the world an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana’s death.” “Then, most tellingly of all, she stood in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace as the funeral cortege went by and lowered her head in acknowledgment of Diana’s immense popularity. Royal heads of state do not generally bow to other people, other people bow to them. And here she was in public, her head bowed, and that helped the monarchy begin to restore its image. As information became more readily available on computer screens and smartphones, the royal family established its own website. It took an account on Twitter. It used YouTube to broadcast its bigger moments.” [cheering] “You would find scripted, cautiously laid-out material that was designed overwhelmingly to create and reinforce the impression that this was a family at the service of the nation itself.” “Hip, hip, hooray!” “They wanted to make sure that they didn’t say the wrong things, that they kept their mystique. But that became harder and harder to do, and the junior members of the royal family made that harder to achieve. Prince Harry, her grandson, and Meghan Markle had decided to leave the royal family and set up a separate life for themselves in California. They went on to make various accusations against the royal family during a television interview with Oprah Winfrey.” “Months when I was pregnant, we have in tandem the conversation of he won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” “The impact of the new technology had been reversed. The monarchy now was the target from within its own ranks. This happened about the same time as Prince Philip was in hospital, and it seemed like a double challenge to the queen. But as much as she needed to communicate, she remains sparing in her public utterances. Less was always more.” “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty the Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, his Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.” “The death of Prince Philip was portrayed as a national tragedy. The couple had been married for 73 years. It was a relationship that had fused with the image of the monarchy. There was always the queen leading the way, with Philip a step behind as protocol required. Emotionally, though, he was at her side. The loss of her husband produced a tremendous outpouring of public sympathy. She responded at first with seclusion, then with the resumption of royal duties.” [laughing] “By and large, the queen’s tenure modernized the royal family without shedding its extraordinary privilege. It changed the way the world perceived the ancient institution and the way the institution reacted to the world. But at its heart, the monarchy remained ambivalent, bereft of executive power, reigning only with the tacit assent of its subjects, yet central to Britain’s sense of itself. Looking back, one is tempted to think, What was it? When did the queen define how she saw her role? And you could probably say in one speech in 1957.” “I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart.” “This would be her legacy as her reign came to an end, the longest rule of any British monarch.”

By The Learning Network

Lesson Overview

Featured Video: “ The Legacy of Elizabeth II: The Media Queen ” by Nailah Morgan, Will Lloyd, Alan Cowell and Robin Stein

Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s longest-serving monarch, died on Thursday at the age of 96.

In her obituary , The New York Times wrote that her “reign of almost seven decades survived tectonic shifts in Britain’s post-imperial society, inspired broad affection for her among her subjects and weathered successive challenges posed by the romantic choices, missteps and imbroglios of her descendants.”

In this lesson, you will examine Queen Elizabeth’s life and legacy through multimedia. First we invite you to view photos and watch an eight-minute video detailing her 70-year reign. Then you can go further by reading articles and Opinion essays that explore what happens next for the monarchy, the queen’s portrayal in pop culture, the history of the British Empire and more.

What do you know about Queen Elizabeth? When you think of her, what images come to mind? What major events in history did her seven-decade reign over Britain include? Take a few moments to reflect.

Then, spend some time viewing this selection of photos from her remarkable life. Choose one to write about. You might use these questions to guide your thinking:

In your own words, what is going on in this image?

What made you choose this photo? Why did it stand out to you? What does it make you think and feel?

What do you think this photo says about Elizabeth and her reign? About the monarchy and its role in British society? About the portrayal of the queen in the media over the years?

What questions do you have about this image, about Elizabeth’s life or about the monarchy in general?

Finally, why do you think the queen, and the royal family in general, is so fascinating to so many? What is the power of royalty, in both substance and symbol? Are you interested in the British monarchy? Why or why not?

Share your reactions and questions with a partner.

Questions for Writing and Discussion

Watch the video at the top of this post (and which can also be found in the related obituary ), perhaps taking notes with an activity sheet like the one we use for our Film Club documentaries . Then answer the following questions:

1. What stood out for you in this video? What images or lines particularly resonated? Why?

2. What did you learn that you didn’t know before? Did anything surprise you? What questions do you still have?

3. The video opens with footage from four different eras in Queen Elizabeth’s life, and in each she is addressing the nation. What does she say? How do those four quotes introduce her, her role and the focus of this short film?

4. “Her reign blended the ancient and the modern,” the narrator tells us. How? What aspects of the monarchy have been in place for centuries, and what aspects of the modern world did Queen Elizabeth have to negotiate for the first time?

5. This piece focuses on Queen Elizabeth as the “media queen.” Throughout, it gives examples of how “the royals understood the power of imagery” and how the queen “sought to control the royal narrative.” What are some examples? How successful was Queen Elizabeth? How important do you think controlling the royal narrative was, given her role as monarch?

6. At what point, according to the film, did Queen Elizabeth “almost lose public sympathy irrevocably”? Why? What did she do to “help the monarchy begin to restore its image” afterward?

7. How have the “junior members” of the monarchy made it difficult for the royal family to both keep its mystique and reinforce the impression that it is “a family at the service of the nation itself”? How much have you been aware of and interested in the stories — for example, those about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? What impression have they given you of the queen and the royal family?

8. The video ends by describing the monarchy as “central to Britain’s sense of itself.” How? (You might return to this question after you learn more about the queen’s extraordinary life or read some of the pieces in the “Going Further” options below.)

Going Further Options

Read the full obituary to learn more about Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign.

Just after the official announcement that “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” The Times published a lengthy obituary for Queen Elizabeth II , written by Alan Cowell. The piece is a thorough reflection on her life and her role as “the nation’s anchor.”

In the obituary, Mr. Cowell writes, “Elizabeth’s long years as sovereign were a time of enormous upheaval, in which she sought to project and protect the royal family as a rare bastion of permanence in a world of shifting values.” To what extent was Queen Elizabeth II successful in doing so during her seven decades as the world’s longest reigning monarch? Read the full piece and reflect on the statement, perhaps noting the details in the obituary that support it.

Mr. Cowell also writes, “Just as telling in the chronicles of her rule, Britons’ unquestioning deference to the crown had been supplanted by a gamut of emotions ranging from loyal and often affectionate tolerance to unbridled hostility. The monarchy was forced, more than ever, to justify its existence in the face of often skeptical public attention and scrutiny.” To what extent do you think the queen was successful at justifying the existence of the monarchy in the 21st century, a very changed world from the one that existed when her reign began in 1952? Use evidence from the obituary, as well as from the video and photo spread, to support your answers.

Find out what happens next.

How is this “ a moment of reckoning ” for Britain? What do you know about what the nation is facing right now, beyond the death of the queen?

First, you might learn about the meticulously choreographed process that the palace and the nation have spent decades planning for when the queen eventually died. What details stand out for you? Why do you think so much attention has been paid to this period of mourning, transition of power and national memorializing? What do you know about King Charles III and the role he will now play ? How important do you think this process is for the palace, the government, the news media, the British public and the rest of the world?

Then, read this article about the new prime minister, Liz Truss, who will “be greeted by an array of vexing problems, including double-digit inflation, a looming recession, labor unrest and soaring household energy bills.”

What predictions can you make about the days and weeks to come in Britain? Why?

Consider the legacies of the British Empire.

“In recent years, public pressure has been building on the British state and institutions to acknowledge and make amends for the legacies of empire, slavery and colonial violence,” Maya Jasanoff writes in a guest essay, “ Mourn the Queen, Not Her Empire .” What do you know about the history of the British Empire and the monarchy’s rule over its colonies? What have you learned in school about this topic?

Ms. Jasanoff, a historian, introduces Queen Elizabeth’s role in the era this way:

The queen embodied a profound, sincere commitment to her duties — her final public act was to appoint her 15th prime minister — and for her unflagging performance of them, she will be rightly mourned. She has been a fixture of stability, and her death in already turbulent times will send ripples of sadness around the world. But we should not romanticize her era. For the queen was also an image: the face of a nation that, during the course of her reign, witnessed the dissolution of nearly the entire British Empire into some 50 independent states and significantly reduced global influence. By design as much as by the accident of her long life, her presence as head of state and head of the Commonwealth, an association of Britain and its former colonies, put a stolid traditionalist front over decades of violent upheaval. As such, the queen helped obscure a bloody history of decolonization whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged.

“Now that she is gone, the imperial monarchy must end too,” this author argues. Read her full piece and follow the links. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Trace the portrayal of the queen in pop culture.

“She was the most opaque of celebrities, a silent film star somehow thriving in a TikTok world,” Sarah Lyall writes . “Over the years, Elizabeth was a character in an endless stream of feature films, made-for-TV movies and television series — biopics, satires, dramas, comedies, you name it — as well as in the occasional documentary, play, musical and novel.”

Have you seen some of these portrayals? Or, have you seen memes or other pop culture versions of Queen Elizabeth, perhaps via social media? Now that you have read more about her, which portrayals seem most accurate? Most interesting? Why?

Share your opinion on the roles of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Over the years, The Learning Network has responded to news about this couple, including with a 2017 lesson plan about their wedding ; a 2020 Student Opinion question that asked young people for opinions about their decision to “step back” from official duties ( to which nearly 200 responded ); and a 2021 Student Opinion question about the Oprah Winfrey interview.

What is your opinion of the couple and the decisions they have made in relation to the royal family? Why? Now that you know more about the role and history of the monarchy, how would you explain why they seem to pose such a threat to its traditions? Do you think the issues they have raised, including those about race and mental health, have broader implications beyond the royal family? Why and how, if so?

Find more lesson plans and teaching ideas here.

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Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died in Balmoral on 8 September 2022 (GMT) at age 96. She had reigned as Queen of the Commonwealth, including New Zealand, for 70 years. As a nation, New Zealand mourns the loss of our longest-reigning Sovereign.

The Governor-General has released information about what her death means for New Zealand. This will continue to be updated with new information as it comes to hand.

You can read the statement from the Governor-General here. (external link)

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed New Zealanders’ deep sadness at the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, describing Her Majesty as a monarch with an unwavering sense of duty.

You can read the statement from the Beehive here. (external link)

On behalf of the New Zealand judiciary, Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann has today paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

You can read the statement from the Chief Justice here. (external link)

Further information is also available on the  Royal Family’s website (external link) .

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Queen Elizabeth statue with corgis unveiled on what would have been her 98th birthday

A small English town has immortalized a group of iconic British figures: Queen Elizabeth II and her corgis.

The memorial statue to the late monarch was unveiled on April 21 in Oakham, England — a bronze monument of the queen in royal regalia with her cherished dogs at her feet.

An official celebration marked the unveiling of the statue created by sculptor Hywel Pratley, which stands near the town's library, according to Rutland County Council 's post on Instagram. The RCC wrote that the statue is the "first permanent memorial" to the late queen.

The ceremony was held on what would've been Queen Elizabeth's 98th birthday. She died at 96 in 2022 after a 70-year run as Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

The statue was commissioned by Dr. Sarah Furness, Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland, who appeared at the event along with other local dignitaries, high school bands and bagpipers, according to the RCC. The design for the corgi dogs was created by local children, the RCC stated.

“What most of us remember about Queen Elizabeth is her warmth,” Furness said in a speech, according to The New York Times . “By showing Queen Elizabeth’s love of dogs, we show her humanity."

Funding for the statue was raised from donations by the public and local businesses, according to the BBC . The ceremony brought fans of Queen Elizabeth from around the country.

“I miss (the Queen), and I wanted to come and see what the statue was like," spectator Jodie Paterson told the BBC.

The statue is the latest monument to the queen in the 18 months since her death. Another statue of the late monarch was unveiled at London's Royal Albert Hall in December 2023.

Scott Stump is a trending reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY (which you should subscribe to here! ) that brings the day's news, health tips, parenting stories, recipes and a daily delight right to your inbox. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing features and news for pop culture, parents, politics, health, style, food and pretty much everything else. 

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Sarah Ferguson Leads Tributes to Queen Elizabeth on Monarch’s Second Posthumous Birthday

The Duchess of York marked the posthumous birthday of the history-making monarch, who died in September 2022

Stephanie Petit is a Royals Editor, Writer and Reporter at PEOPLE.

Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Sarah Ferguson  is among many honoring  Queen Elizabeth on what would have been her 98th birthday.

The Duchess of York, 64 — who was previously married to the Queen's son, Prince Andrew , with whom she shares two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie , 34, — posted her tribute alongside a photograph of the Queen at her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 .

"Today we are remembering Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II" she began her message, before noting that it would have been the late monarch's birthday.

"Thank you for all that you have taught us, for being a steadfast leader and dear friend. You are sorely missed," she concluded the post's caption.

Fergie's tribute to the Queen came amid many organizations honoring the late monarch on her birthday, including the official Instagram account for London's Westminster Abbey — where the many significant moments in the Queen's life, including her coronation in 1952, were held, as well as being the location of her state funeral in 2022 . "Remembering Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who was born #onthisday in 1926. 'The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,' " the Abbey wrote alongside an image of the Queen in attendance at the royal church.

Ascot Racecourse, where Royal Ascot is famously held each year, shared footage on X (formerly Twitter) of the Queen's horse Estimate famously winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013, an event which marked the first time a reigning monarch had won the race.

"Today, in honour of what would have been Queen Elizabeth II's birthday, we look back with delight on Estimate's captivating Gold Cup win at #RoyalAscot. Pure jubilation," the post read.

Queen Elizabeth  died on Sept. 8, 2022 , at age 96. Her cause of death was listed as old age , according to a document published by the National Records of Scotland.

To mark the history-making monarch's first posthumous birthday last year, Prince William and   Kate Middleton shared a never-before-seen photo of the Queen surrounded by some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Prince and Princess of Wales' three children — Prince George ,  Princess Charlotte and  Prince Louis — appeared in the image along with Zara and Mike Tindall's three children — Mia, Lena and Lucas. Meanwhile, Peter Phillips' two daughters, Savannah and Isla, smiled for the portrait.

Two of Queen Elizabeth's grandchildren were also pictured.  Prince Edward  and his wife  Sophie 's son,  James , and daughter,  Lady Louise Windsor , stood at the back of the picture.

The image of Queen Elizabeth was taken by Princess Kate during a family trip to Balmoral in 2022, the royal residence in Scotland where the monarch traditionally spent her summer months and where she died.

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The British royal family's official social media accounts also marked Queen Elizabeth's birthday last year by sharing a photo of the monarch .

"Today, we remember the incredible life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on what would have been her 97th birthday," they captioned the post . "When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen. Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne."

They continued, "When King George VI died in February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II when she was just 25. Her Majesty went on to be Britain’s longest reigning Monarch - the only one in history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee."

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A New Statue of Queen Elizabeth II Complete With Corgis Is Unveiled

The statue in Rutland is one of the first memorials to the late Queen to be unveiled since her death.

A new statue of Queen Elizabeth II was unveiled in Rutland, England on Sunday on what would have been her 98th birthday. And to further cement her link with the corgi, several members of the Welsh Corgi League proudly brought their dogs to be part of the 400-strong crowd at the unveiling. The seven-foot bronze statue by Sculptor Hywel Pratley depicts the Queen in state robes. One corgi is at her feet and another two are on the plinth.

According to reports the scupltor told the crowd at the unveiling that the plinth was designed to be sat on and could be a hit with the Instagram generation. "It will make perfect backdrop for pictures and people will be able to reach up and pat a dog or if small enough even sit in it's back,” he is said to have told the crowd.

An engraving on the monument reads, “Queen Elizabeth II, 1926 - 2022. Erected as a tribute to her late Majesty through public subscription by Rutland people.” The statue was commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of Rutland (the King’s representative in the county) Dr Sarah Furness. The sculptor told the Telegraph newspaper last July that he believed the statue was the first commissioned specifically as a memorial to her after her death. There have been other statues unveiled since her death which were being made beforehand, such as the one that King Charles unveiled in York in November 2022 designed to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee that year.

No member of the royal family was at the unveiling on Sunday. King Charles and Queen Camilla attended church at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral. The King and Princess of Wales are unable to carry out duties as normal due to their cancer treatments , with the Princess of Wales asking for space to recover following major abdominal surgery and while she receives chemotherapy . Prince William is also operating a reduced number of duties to care for his wife and children, meaning that the royal family is thin on the ground when it comes to the number of engagements they can carry out.

Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth owned more than 30 corgis. She had them in her household as a young child, but it was corgi Susan , who was an 18th birthday present from her parents that is often described as her first corgi and the dog from whom many of her other pets were descended. Susan accompanied then Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon, and when she died in 1959, the young Queen had a special gravestone made for her at Sandringham House, Norfolk.

The late Queen owned corgis and cross breed dorgis right up until her death in 2022. When she died, she left corgis Muick and Sandy to Sarah Ferguson who shared a year later that they were “thriving."

Town & Country Contributing Editor Victoria Murphy has reported on the British Royal Family since 2010. She has interviewed Prince Harry and has travelled the world covering several royal tours. She is a frequent contributor to Good Morning America. Victoria authored Town & Country book The Queen: A Life in Pictures , released in 2021. 

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What Each Royal Inherited From Queen Elizabeth II After Her Death

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Since her death, there have been a lot of questions over Queen Elizabeth’s inheritances and who inherited her money and jewelry in the British royal family.

Queen Elizabeth II is the first child of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. She became Queen of the United Kingdom as well as the other Commonwealth countries in February 1952 after the death of her father. She was 25 years old at the time. She was married to Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, from November 1947 until Prince Philip’s death in April 2021. The two had four children together: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

After more than 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. She was 96 years old. In a 1957 Christmas Broadcast, the Queen promised the United Kingdom she would give her “heart” and “devotion” to the Commonwealth. “I cannot lead you into battle,” she said at the time. “I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else: I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

The Queen’s death came three months after her Platinum Jubilee event in June 2022, which celebrated her 70 years on the throne. After her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen thanked royal well-wishers for supporting her family. “When it comes to how to mark seventy years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow. It really is a first. But I have been humbled and deeply touched that so many people have taken to the streets to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee,” the Queen said in a statement at the time.

She continued, “While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family.” She ended her message by telling her supporters about the “joy” she felt that weekend. “I have been inspired by the kindness, joy and kinship that has been so evident in recent days, and I hope this renewed sense of togetherness will be felt for many years to come. I thank you most sincerely for your good wishes and for the part you have all played in these happy celebrations,” she said at the time.

But back to Queen Elizabeth’s inheritances . So who inherited Queen Elizabeth’s money and jewelry? While her will isn’t public, there have been reports on which British royal family members inherited Queen Elizabeth’s estate and fortune, and which were left out completely.

What each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth

Read on for what we know about Queen Elizabeth’s inheritances.

What did King Charles inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did King Charles inherit from Queen Elizabeth? After the Queen’s death, King Charles inherited the Sovereign Grant, a taxpayer fund each year to the British royal family. The Sovereign Grant originated from an agreement made by King George III in 1760, who agreed to surrender his income from Parliament to receive a set annual payment for himself and future generations of the British royal family. The agreement was originally known as the Civil List before it was reworked as the Sovereign Grant in 2012.

King Charles III is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who died less than two years before the Queen on April 9, 2021. King Charles is the older brother of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s three other children: Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Anne, Princess Royal; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. He’s also the father of Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren, Prince William and Prince Harry, whom he shared with his late wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997. King Charles is married to Queen Consort Camilla, whom he married in 2005.

Under the agreement, the British royal family receives a grant in exchange for surrendering their profits from the Crown Estate, the family’s collection of lands and holdings worth $19 billion, to the government, according to BBC . Each year, the reigning monarch receives 25 percent of the Crown Estate’s profits. The amount pays for property upkeep and utilities, the British royal family’s travel and the royal employee payroll.

The Crown Estate includes properties across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and operates as a corporation, with a chief executive and commissioners appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister. In 2021, the Crown Estate generated a net profit of $361 million, according to CNN. The United Kingdom Treasury paid the Queen a sovereign grant of $100 million, which is the equivalent of $1.50 from each person in the United Kingdom.

What did Princess Anne inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Princess Anne inherit from Queen Elizabeth? According to i24 News , Princess Anne, as well as her brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, inherited a share of the Sovereign Grant, which is now owned by their oldest brother, King Charles III, though the exact amount of her share isn’t known. Some reports also believe that Princess Anne received a new royal title given her prominence in the events leading up to the Queen’s funeral in September 2022.

Princess Anne is the second eldest child and the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. She is the Princess Royal and the younger sister of King Charles III and the older sister of Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Princess Anne is also the mother of the Queen’s grandchildren, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips, who she shares with her ex-husband, Mark Philips, whom she divorced in 1992. Princess Anne remarried with Timothy Laurence in 1992.

In a post on the British royal family’s Instagram account in September 2022, Princess Anne revealed that she was by Queen Elizabeth’s side for the final 24 hours of her life. “I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest Mother’s life. It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys,” she wrote. “Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting. We will all share unique memories.

I offer my thanks to each and everyone who share our sense of loss. We may have been reminded how much of her presence and contribution to our national identity we took for granted. I am also so grateful for the support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles as he accepts the added responsibilities of The Monarch. To my mother, The Queen, thank you.”

What did Prince Andrew inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Prince Andrew inherit from Queen Elizabeth? BBC reported in September 2022 that Andrew and Sarah Ferguson inherited two of the Queen’s corgis, Muick and Sandy, who Andrew and his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, gave to the Queen as a present in 2021.

Prince Andrew is the Duke of York and the second eldest son and third eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Andrew is also the younger brother of King Charles III and Anne, Princess Royal, and the older brother of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. He is also the father of Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, whom he divorced in 1996.

“The corgis will return to live at Royal Lodge with the duke and duchess. It was the duchess who found the puppies which were gifted to Her Majesty by the duke,” a source told BBC at the time. “The duchess bonded with Her Majesty over dog walking and riding horses, and even after her divorce, she would continue her great friendship with Her Majesty, by walking the dogs in Frogmore and chatting.”

Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie gave the Queen Muick and another dog named Fergus in the spring of 2021 to cheer her up while her husband, Prince Philip, was in the hospital amid COVID-19 pandemic. Muick, pronounced “Mick,” is named after Loch Muick on the royal Balmoral Estate, where the Queen died. Fergus, a dorgi, was named after the Queen’s maternal uncle, Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who died in World War One.

Fergus died at just five months old due to a heart defect. After Fergus’ death, Andrew gave the Queen another corgi named Sandy on her 95th birthday. The Queen’s dresser and personal assistant, Angela Kelly, said at the time that the dogs provided the Queen with “constant joy” and “always brought a smile to everyone’s faces,” according to BBC.

What did Prince Edward inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Prince Edward inherit from Queen Elizabeth? According to i24 News , Prince Edward, as well as his siblings Prince Andrew and Princess Anne, inherited a share of the Sovereign Grant, which is now owned by their oldest brother, King Charles III, though the exact amount of his share isn’t known.

Prince Edward is the Earl of Wessex and the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He is also the younger brother of King Charles III, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew. He is also the father of Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren—Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Servern—who he shares with his wife, Sophie Rhys Jones, who he married in 1999.

In a post on the British royal family’s Instagram account in September 2022, Prince Edward revealed what he learned from Queen Elizabeth after her death. “As a family, we have grown up learning to share our parents, especially our beloved mama, with the Nation, her Realms and the Commonwealth,” he wrote. “While it has been lovely to have spent time saying our own farewell privately at Balmoral, it is now time to allow others to be able to say their farewell. We have been overwhelmed by the tide of emotion that has engulfed us and the sheer number of people who have gone out of their way to express their own love, admiration and respect to such a very special and unique person who was always there for us. And now, we are there for her, united in grief. Thank you for your support, you have no idea how much it means.”

He continued, “The Queen’s passing has left an unimaginable void in all our lives. Sophie and I have taken huge pleasure in seeing our James and Louise enjoying the places and activities that their grandparents loved so much. Given that my mama let us spend so much time with her, I think she also rather enjoyed watching those passions blossom. Those times together, those happy memories, have now become massively precious to each and every one of us. May God bless Her Majesty and may her memory be long cherished even as the baton she has carried for these past 70 years now passes to the next generation and to my brother, Charles. Long Live The King.”

What did Prince William inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Prince William inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Prince William is the eldest child of King Charles III and his late wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997. William, who is Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchild, is the Prince of Wales and is the husband of Kate Middleton, the new Princess of Wales. He is also the father of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

So what did Prince William inherit from Queen Elizabeth? After Queen Elizabeth’s death, Prince William inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate worth around $1.2 billion. The estate—which belonged to William’s father, King Charles, before he took the throne—covers 140,000 acres in the United Kingdom and is used “used to fund the public, private and charitable activities” of the Duke of Cornwall, the title William inherited after the Queen’s death.

The Duchy of Cornwall was established in 1337 to financially support the heir to the throne, according to CNN . The Duchy of Cornwall—which will provide the income for Prince William and Kate Middleton—is funded through the ownership and operation of land in rural and urban areas, as well as islands and rental cottages in Wales, Cornwall and other areas in the United Kingdom. In 2018, the Duchy of Cornwall made Charles and Camilla $28 million, which is around what William and Kate will make as well. According to CNN, about 50 percent of Charles and Camilla’s annual income was spent on travel and official royal engagements, while a quarter went to taxes. The remaining $8.9 million went to Charles’ children with his late wife Princess Diana—Prince William and Prince Harry—as well as non-official purchases and a royal savings account.

What did Kate Middleton inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Kate Middleton inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Kate is the Princess of Wales and the wife of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchild, Prince William, the Prince of Wales. Kate is also the mother of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. So what did Kate Middleton inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Radar Online reported in September 2022 that Kate was expected to inherit $110 million in jewelry from the Queen’s personal jewelry collection, which includes 300 pieces that belonged specifically to the Queen and not the Crown. “[The Queen] been focusing on her beloved pieces and who deserves what,” a source told Radar Online in July 2022, two months before the Queen’s death. “The whispers are that she’s made some last-minute changes to her will that’ll be a shocking surprise for her heirs.”

Radar Online reported that the Queen’s decision for Kate, who she became especially close to in the final months of her life, to inherit her jewelry led to resentment from King Charles’ wife, Queen Consort Camilla. “Kate is clearly the family favorite,” the insider said. “She’d never say it, of course, but it’s one of the reasons Camilla resented Kate.” Radar Online also reported that Kate plans to pass some of the jewels to her daughter, Princess Charlotte.

While Kate inherited $110 million in jewelry from the Queen, that collection did not include the Spencer tiara, a diamond-encrusted crown inherited by William’s late mother, Princess Diana, in the mid-1970s. Diana wore the tiara in her wedding to King Charles—then Prince Charles—in 1981. According to the website for the auction house Sothebys , the tiara was inherited by Kate and William’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.

“Having been worn by Princess Diana at her wedding, the Spencer Tiara is one of the most famous diadems in modern history.” the auction house noted. “The Spencer Tiara is now set to be inherited by Princess Charlotte.” The description of the tiara continued, “In the mid-1970s, John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, inherited the tiara. It was subsequently worn by all three of his daughters at their wedding: Lady Jane in 1978; Lady Sarah in 1980; and finally Lady Diana the following year, in 1981. The tiara was most recently worn by Celia McCorquodale – niece of the 10th Earl Spencer Charles – at her wedding in the Spring of 2018.”

What did Prince Harry inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Prince Harry inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Prince Harry is the youngest child of King Charles III and his late wife, Diana, Princess of Wales. Harry, who is Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchild, is the Duke of Sussex and is the husband of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. He is also the younger brother of Prince William and the father of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren: Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten Windsor, who is named after the Queen’s childhood nickname.

So what will Prince Harry inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Representatives told  Forbes in 2021 that Harry was not a beneficiary of any of the $100 million left to the royal family by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother. However, after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, Harry and William inherited part of their mother’s estate on their 25th birthdays, which was around $10 million each, according to Forbes. In a CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey and his wife in March 2021, Harry revealed that he used his trust from his mother to support him and his family after his father, Prince Charles, cut him off financially at the start of 2020 following Harry and Meghan’s exit from the British royal family and move to the United States. “I had to afford security for us,” Harry said at the time. “[I was cut off] in the first quarter of 2020. But I’ve got what my mom left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this.”

According to Us Weekly , though Diana’s will stated that her estate would be distributed to William and Harry when they turned 25, the funds were held until they were 30. Despite the hold, the brothers were still able to receive interest on their trust funds earlier. While Harry and William were the chief heirs of Diana’s estate, the People’s Princess’s will also listed others with whom she wanted to share her wealth, including her butler, Paul Burrell, as well as 17 of her godchildren, according to Worthy .

What did Meghan Markle inherit from Queen Elizabeth?

What did Meghan Markle inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Meghan is the Duchess of Sussex and the wife of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchild, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. She’s also the mother of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren, Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten Windsor, who is named after the Queen’s childhood nickname.

So what did Meghan Markle inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Representatives told  Forbes in 2021 that Harry was not a beneficiary of any of the $100 million left to the royal family by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother. Radar Online confirmed that in September 2022, reporting: “There’s a very good chance the Queen won’t leave either of them any jewels of value,” a source said. “It’s not surprising, since they’re not members of the royal family anymore, but it would be a real slap in the face.” Radar Online also reported that Meghan’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, who is set to inherit $110 million in jewelry from the Queen, will likely pass some of her jewels to their niece because she and her husband, Prince William, “really don’t want Lilibet to be left out.”

“As for Meghan, she’s not their concern,” the insider added. As for why the Queen left Meghan out of her inheritance, Radar Online’s source speculated that it could be due to either “practicality” or Harry and Meghan’s drama with the British royal family in the years leading up to the Queen’s death. “Some people think it won’t be out of spite, but practicality,” the insider said. “Others say it would be the Queen sending a message to Meghan and Harry: You reap what you sow.”

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

For more about the British royal family, check out Sally Bedell Smith’s 2012 biography, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch . The New York Times bestseller, which includes the “real story” behind several storylines featured in Netflix’s The Crown , follows Queen Elizabeth II’s life from her childhood as the “heiress presumptive” to her father, King George VI; to the moment he et her husband, Prince Philip, when she was 13 years old; to her ascension to the throne at 25 years old in 1952. Elizabeth the Queen, which also includes interviews with Buckingham Palace sources and never-before-revealed documents, provides a deep dive into the Queen’s legacy as one of the most famous monarchs in recent history.

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How Queen Camilla went from vilified mistress to beloved daughter-in-law

I t took years before Camilla was accepted behind palace doors – and the once vilified royal mistress was determined to earn the trust of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, recently wrote a book,  "My Mother and I." It explores King Charles III’s upbringing and relationship with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Seward also sat down with the king, 75, at his Highgrove estate.

The royal expert told Fox News Digital that Camilla, who was crowned queen alongside Charles in 2023, wanted to prove her worth.

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"What Camilla did… she worked really hard at looking after Charles," said Seward. "Once she was married to Charles, she really took on the burden of royal duties, which isn’t easy for someone [who] hasn’t been brought up to it."

"Imagine going to a very grand wedding every single day and having to get up, dressed up, go out, meet people and talk to a lot of people you’re never going to meet again," Seward explained. "That is quite exhausting every single day. And this is for a woman [who]… was an army housewife. She was used to slopping around in her jeans, doing the gardening, going to her little shed and doing some painting, doing a bit of cooking, not really ever getting dressed up."

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"But so suddenly to be thrust into that world was quite exhausting for her," Seward added.

Charles met Camilla in 1970 through mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz. According to reports, Charles was instantly smitten. Despite a blossoming romance, Charles joined the Navy in 1971. It’s also noted that Camilla didn’t meet the royal prerequisites for marrying an heir to the throne. The couple likely believed they didn’t have a future together.

While Charles was serving in the Navy, Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, an ex-boyfriend of Charles’ younger sister Princess Anne, in 1973. According to reports, a devastated Charles tried to stop Camilla from marrying Parker Bowles, but the pair remained friends.

Author Penny Juror previously alleged in her book,  "The Duchess: The Untold Story,"  that Charles and Camilla began an affair around 1978 or 1979 and Parker Bowles was allegedly aware. As the pair stayed close, Charles began courting Lady Diana Spencer in 1980. Charles and Diana married in 1981.

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Charles and Camilla reportedly began having another affair in 1986. In 1992, Charles and Diana announced their separation. During an ITV interview in 1994, Charles admitted to cheating on Diana. A year later, Camilla and her spouse called it quits, announcing in a statement they had lived apart for years.

Charles and Diana’s  divorce was finalized in 1996 . A year later, the Princess of Wales died in a car crash at age 36. While Charles and Camilla made their first public appearance in 1999, it wasn't until a year later that the queen acknowledged the relationship. 

Charles and Camilla married in 2005. The queen didn’t attend the civil ceremony.

Seward noted that, at first, the queen was "very wary" of Camilla’s efforts. But in time, she saw a different side of her daughter-in-law.

"Eventually, she realized how loyal Camilla was and how hard she worked at the job of being royal," said Seward.

But there was one act by Camilla that sealed the deal with the queen.

"She was wonderful with Prince Philip in his ailing years," said Seward about the queen’s husband of 73 years, the longest marriage for any British royal couple. 

"[Camilla] was really, really patient and very, very good with him," said Seward. "The queen… saw the warmth that Camilla had and realized that… Camilla was doing more for her son than she’d ever managed to do."

In February 2022, the queen said in a statement that Camilla’s title would be queen consort when Charles became king. 

"When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king, I know you will give him and his wife, Camilla, the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as queen consort as she continues her own loyal service," said the queen when she marked the 70th anniversary of her rule.

Following the announcement, Charles said he and Camilla were "deeply conscious of the honor."

"As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout," he said.

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Seward said she wasn’t surprised by the queen’s announcement.

"[The queen and Camilla] were pretty close," she claimed. "I think the queen [had] a great sense of humor, and so does Camilla. She sees it as a glass half full, not a glass half empty. Charles sees it as a glass half empty. He always looks on the… negative side, or he used to… Camilla always looked on the positive."

"If she missed a train, she said, ‘Oh, don’t worry, there’s another one in 15 minutes,’" Seward continued. "But Charles would say, ‘Oh my God, it’s all going to be a disaster. I’m going to be late all round.’ So it was just a different way of looking at life."

"I think the queen and Camilla looked at life the same way," Seward shared. "And also, they were both country women, and they loved horses and dogs, which always helps."

The queen, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, died in September 2022 at age 96. Days before the couple’s coronation in May 2023, Charles issued a royal warrant to change his wife’s title to queen. She is now known as Queen Camilla.

With the king and his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton currently sidelined by cancer, Camilla has helped pick up the slack. She has increased her schedule of appearances in her efforts to keep the royal family in the public eye.

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The king has canceled his public engagements indefinitely after revealing that he is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.

Since becoming a member of the royal family, Camilla has taken on roles at more than 100 charities, championing issues that range from promoting literacy to supporting victims of domestic violence and helping the elderly.

Andrew Morton, Princess Diana’s biographer, previously told Fox News Digital that at one point, the queen and the future king were at odds over his true love.

"There was considerable animus between the houses of the queen and Prince Charles over Camilla," he explained. "[It was there] before [Princess] Diana died, and certainly after Diana died."

"The queen and her advisers, her courtiers, her private secretary – they all believed that Prince Charles should give up Camilla," he said. "He could love her, but he needed to leave her. And that’s because they felt she was damaging to the monarchy, which she was. There’s no question about that."

Morton alleged that the relationship between mother and son was so tense that a mediator had to step in.

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"The presence of Camilla in Charles’ life did cause a rift between the queen and her eldest son, one which took several years to patch up," Morton explained. "And it wasn’t until the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, intervened and said, ‘Look, I’ve spoken to Camilla on numerous occasions. She’s dedicated and loving. And her feelings for Charles are not going away.’"

"And what’s the queen’s job? It is to preserve the monarchy," Morton continued. "She sees this woman who is damaging the monarchy remaining in place. So it took a long time for that to be resolved."

Original article source: How Queen Camilla went from vilified mistress to beloved daughter-in-law

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Prince William’s Most Candid Quotes About His Future as King: ‘The Royal Family Has to Modernize’

Prince William has been preparing for his role as king his whole life, and he has big ideas when it comes to the monarchy’s future.

William is first in line for the British throne behind his father, King Charles III , who assumed the position following Queen Elizabeth II ‘s death in September 2022. A source previously told Us Weekly that Charles and William planned to “guide each other” on their paths.

“William is excited about this new chapter in his life and the challenges he’ll be facing,” the insider exclusively revealed in February 2022, adding that the prince would “be taking on extra duties over the next decade.”

The father-son duo hoped to work “very closely” as the royal family transitioned to new leadership, making “the big decision [of] making and creating a slimmed down monarchy.” According to the insider, both William and Charles believe “less people means less drama.”

Related: A Guide to the Current Working Royals: King Charles III and Beyond

Throughout his life in the royal spotlight, William has made few comments about his future as king with wife Princess Kate Middleton by his side. He previously expressed interest in helping the monarchy “modernize and develop” with the times in a rare sit-down interview with the BBC.

Scroll down to see more of William’s insights into his future as king:

William noted in a BBC News interview that he’d observed “the qualities that are essential for somebody in a leadership role” from watching his grandmother’s historic reign but revealed he hadn’t sat down with her one-on-one to discuss his future role.

“I think royal duty is extremely important,” William told BBC News. “I take my responsibilities very seriously, but it’s about finding your own way at the right time and if you’re not careful, duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot at a very early age, and I think you’ve got to develop into the duty role.”

When asked about his reputation as a “reluctant royal,” William replied candidly. “I’m going to get plenty of criticism over my lifetime and it’s something that I don’t completely ignore, but it’s not something that I take completely to heart,” he said.

William insisted he’d “be the first person to accept” more responsibilities from the queen. “There’s an order of succession and I’m at the bottom at the moment,” he told the BBC. “So there is the time and space and future to take on more and develop more.”

However, he clarified that he wasn’t rushing to reach the throne. “I certainly don’t lie awake at night waiting or hoping for it because it sadly means my family has moved on and I don’t want that,” he explained.

“I think the royal family has to modernize and develop as it goes along and it has to stay relevant, and that’s the challenge for me. How do I make the royal family relevant in the next 20 years’ time?” William told the BBC. “You know, it could be 40 years’ time. It could be 60 years’ time. I have no idea when that’s going to be.”

William confessed to British GQ that “there is no rulebook” to royal life. “I sometimes wonder if there should be, but in the end, I think probably not,” he added. “Having that difference in how we do things makes the royal family more interesting and more flexible. If we all followed the same line, it would all be quite stifled. Our characters are different and the different opinions are important to have.”

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Related: Prince William Through the Years: His Royal Life, Fatherhood and More

While visiting Dowlais Rugby Club in Wales, William sat beside a young boy who excitedly proclaimed , “You’re the king!” William was quick to set the record straight, teasing, “No, I’m not. Not me!”

At his father’s coronation concert, William acknowledged the hard work of Charles, Elizabeth and the royals who came before them while also reaffirming his own dedication to duty.

“I commit myself to serve you all,” he said in his speech. “King, Country and Commonwealth. God Save The King!”

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King Charles III

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Sarah Ferguson Thanks Queen Elizabeth For Being A 'Dear Friend' On Her Birthday

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

Sarah Ferguson remembered the late Queen Elizabeth on Sunday, on what would have been the royal’s 98th birthday.

“Thank you for all that you have taught us, for being a steadfast leader and dear friend. You are sorely missed,” the Duchess of York said in a post on Instagram. Fergie was off on the monarch’s age by just a year, writing that she would’ve been 97 ― not 98.

The queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in London on April 21, 1926.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sarah Ferguson (Fergie) (@sarahferguson15)

Queen Elizabeth “died peacefully” at Balmoral in Scotland on Sept. 8, 2022, after 70 years on the throne.

Her husband, Prince Philip, preceded her in death. He died on April 9, 2021 , just two months shy of his 100th birthday.

Liz Truss, former prime minister of the U.K., met with the queen in her final days and wrote about the interactions in her new book, “Ten Years to Save the West,” out this week.

Truss said that when she spent time with the queen at Balmoral two days before her death, the monarch had seemingly “grown frailer over the previous year,” but “gave no hint of discomfort.”

“She was as resolute, determined and charming as ever,” Truss said.

As the meeting drew to a close, the monarch uttered her final words to Truss : that she “looked forward to our speaking again next week.”

“I had no idea this meeting would be both our last and her final formal engagement as monarch,” Truss wrote.

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