Elizabeth Alexandra Mary,(21 April 1926-8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms from 6 Feburary 1952 for a total of 75 years and 214 days, the longest reign of any British monarch and the second longest of any monarch of a sovereign country.
Enigmatic to the end, we knew less about Queen Elizabeth II's beliefs and convictions than we did about those of her son and heir, King Charles III, and her many children-in-law, especially the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who was embroiled in the child molestation case against Trump supporter Jeffrey Epstein.
The first British monarch ever to address a joint session of the United States Congress and the first monarch to reign as a widow or widower, Elizabeth II presided over a transitional era which saw Rhodesia declare its independence and change its name to Zimbabwe, Argentina try to reclaim the Falkland Islands (las islas Malvinas, as they were originally called), and Australia grow closer to the USA in political and economic terms (They dropped the pound in favor of the Australian dollar. and citizens have been entertaining the idea of an Australian Republic.)
In the 1960's she made headlines when she awarded the Beatles the MBE, the highest civilian honor in Britain, (Paul McCartney caused a bit of a stir when he sang,"Her Majesty is a pretty nice girl." in a throwaway ditty at the end of the ABBEY ROAD album, but it was nothing compared to his songwriting partner John Lennon's decision to return his MBE as a result of British involvement in Northern Ireland and Biafra and the punk legends the Sex Pistols raining on the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 with their own version of "God Save The Queen."
Unfortunately, her long and illustrious career was plagued by many illnesses, including COVID 19, which led to either attending state events virtually or skipping them altogether. On September 8,the world came to a halt when it was announced that the Queen's health was declining and the presence of her children at her bedside was required. A few days prior, she seemed her old robust self as she welcomed Britain's new Prime Minister, Liz Truss,but the reign of the monarch who brought the UK into modern times came to a tragic end,as, after 96 years of life, the Queen left historic Balmoral Castle and a grieving world, in a peaceful fashion. We wish King Charles III the best of luck as he steers Britain through its most challenging economic and political period in recent memory, as well as as his sons William and Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan as they train their progeny for whatever the future may bring.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to our British readers and to this author's many British friends.
The Queen is dead, but not the memories.
Long live, and God save, the King.
Steve
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