It was only three months ago that the United Kingdom celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. That reign came to an end Thursday, as Buckingham Palace announced the queen’s death after spending 70 years on the throne.
Elizabeth’s death will spark a multitude of feelings, often conflicting, not just in Britain but around the world. The monarch has been the only head of state that millions of her subjects in the British Isles and the Commonwealth have ever known. Her presence on their coins and bank notes and their televisions has been a constant through generations, an ever-diminishing bit of continuity as the world has shifted away from the dark days of subjection and colonialism.
It is entirely probable that Charles and his likely successor, Prince William, will oversee the unraveling of the monarchy itself.
The crown now passes to Charles, who at 73 years old has sat in wait for his entire adult life. It was Charles who lamented in a journal that his decidedly common treatment during the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 symbolized “the end of Empire.” It is entirely probable that he and his likely successor, Prince William, will oversee the unraveling of the monarchy itself.
