Queen Elizabeth Pledged That Hers Was a Job for Life, and She Meant It
We all knew that this day would come but there was a still a sense of disbelief when the announcement was made by Buckingham Palace yesterday that Queen Elizabeth II had died. The woman who has been at the center of our national life for so long—woven into every part of our society on our stamps, coins and national institutions for seven decades— has gone. And at the same time as honoring her memory, the seamless system of constitutional monarchy has propelled us into the future. Saying King Charles will certainly take some getting used to.
I was outside Buckingham Palace when the news of the Queen's death broke at 6:30 p.m. in the UK, standing in the rain with the journalists from all over the world who had been taking their positions and changing into black clothes since everyone realized just how suddenly grave the situation had become a few hours earlier. The overwhelming emotion was shock. There was sadness, but mixed with a sense that the day that we all knew would come was here and it did not quite feel real.
All afternoon, members of the public from across the world had been watching us work, stopping us when the cameras weren't rolling to ask what we knew, when we might hear something more. But it wasn't until the Queen's death was announced that people started to stick around. Despite the awful weather, the crowds grew and people stood under their umbrellas just looking at the central London Palace, taking in this historical moment. An official notice of her death was positioned on an easel on the Palace forecourt—a reminder of how people would first hear the news in the days before the internet and Twitter. The Queen's body was at Balmoral, but the official seat of the monarchy was—and will remain—a focal point as we enter a period of mourning. There was a sense of grief, but also something else. Celebration is perhaps not the right word, but it felt like people were there to honor her life and achievements and this was something to be happy about. Some laid flowers, some climbed up onto the Queen Victoria Memorial to get a better view, some cheered and some sang. When it got dark, the area was lit up by people's phones as they raised them into the air.
Of course, there will be much sadness over the next days and weeks as we reflect on Queen Elizabeth's life, what she meant to those knew her best and what she meant to all the people who didn't yet still felt connected to her. But there is every reason to believe that in the end things have unfolded how she would have wanted. This was a 96-year-old woman who lived a full and purposeful life and lived long enough to see the world celebrate her historical Platinum Jubilee. Her "strength and stay" Prince Philip died just 18 months ago, and she had been unable to fulfill key duties over the past year.
Despite her struggles with mobility, the Queen so badly wanted to fulfill her responsibilities right until the end. She pledged it was a job for life and she meant it. There is great poignancy to the fact that just two days before she died she was smiling and with a twinkle in her eye as she appointed her 15th Prime Minister.
We will almost certainly never see another British monarch reign for so long and through so much change as Queen Elizabeth II. Her death is the end of an era. But it is also the beginning to another. And no-one understood the importance of securing the future more than the Queen. She did it constantly throughout her reign as she encouraged her children and grandchildren to forge their own paths to keep the monarchy relevant to each generation. And she did it in a more specific way towards the end of her life when she made the announcement that paved the way for Camilla to be Queen Consort.
Queen Elizabeth had the capacity to modernize but she also upheld tradition, and understood that she had position within a system that has it ways; some which cannot be changed. We see this in action now as a well-planned series of events swings into motion. There is mourning, and at the same time there will also be a very visible new king. Of course the Queen knew every detail of the plans; what happens now is what she wanted.
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