Daily Times

The admiration for a woman, who has been an emblem of unity and devotion beyond nations for so many decades, is deeply sincere, and the grief of her loss, very genuine. The death of the 96-year-old Queen ended a generation-spanning, seven-decade reign that made her a beacon light of strength and duty in a fractured world. A dignified, dependable figure who helped steer the institution into the modern world, stripping away court rituals and making it somewhat more public and accessible. Although she was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) – and the eldest granddaughter of King George V, Queen Elizabeth II was not born in a palace, she was instead born in a townhouse in London that belonged to her Scottish maternal grandparents, the Earl, and Countess of Strathmore on 21 April 1926.

Queen Elizabeth II was educated at home under the supervision of her mother and governess, Marion Crawford. She was taught lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Elizabeth II took to the throne in 1952, aged just 25, and has overseen a wide-ranging spectrum of political leaders during her time. In total, the Queen has seen 15 British Prime Ministers and 13 sitting Presidents of the United States during her 70-year reign as the British monarch, which has to be some kind of record. At the time of her death, she was the Head of the Commonwealth, which consists of 56 countries and more than two billion people. She was also the head of state in other countries, not just Britain, including Australia and Canada.

There’s no tragedy in the death of Elizabeth II who kept going to the very last. Across her 70-year reign, she carried out 21,000 royal engagements. She died just two days after performing her final and most important constitutional role, appointing a new British Prime Minister.

After the Queen’s record-breaking reign, unpicking her name, image, and iconography from the fabric of national life in the UK and across the Commonwealth will take much longer.

After the announcement of the queen’s death on Thursday 8th September, thousands of people headed to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects. While, the UK has entered a period of official mourning, with tributes pouring in from around the world, people are leaving flowers and personal tributes outside the palace to mark her passing.

As nations mourn the loss of the longest-reigning monarch in British history, many of us are fondly looking back at her life. There’s so much to remember about Her Majesty – and there’s still more to learn, too. Her death has saddened the world, with droves of royal fans and celebrities taking to social media to share their condolences.

The British Armed Forces have conducted gun salutes across the United Kingdom, on ships at sea and overseas to honour the late Queen Elizabeth II. In Paris, London, and Prague, from Washington to Beijing, across Sydney and Singapore – flowers were laid, sports stadiums fell silent, and monuments were illuminated as a mark of respect for a monarch who meant so much to so many.

Liz Truss, who became Britain’s new prime minister after meeting the Queen on 6th September, said the monarch had “touched the lives of millions around the world”. Joe Biden, US president, said her “legacy will loom large in the pages of British history and the story of our world”.

He added that “Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy” who “helped make our relationship special”. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called her “one of my favourite people in the world, and I will miss her so”. Queen Elizabeth, oversee a time of great transformation for Britain at home and a reign that saw the end of its global empire abroad after the Second World War. Throughout her reign, she managed to make people feel that she is the life, spirit and soul of the country.

The monarch held the record for being the wealthiest Queen in the world. There is no doubt that Queen Elizabeth was an extremely remarkable woman.

That’s why, after the Queen’s record-breaking reign, unpicking her name, image, and iconography from the fabric of national life in the UK and across the Commonwealth will take much longer. These are some of the things that will need to change, and it will take years.

There are 4.5 billion sterling banknotes in circulation with the Queen’s face on them, worth a combined £80bn. Replacing them with alternatives featuring the head of the new monarch is likely to take at least two years. One of the most straightforward changes, in theory, will be switching the words of the national anthem from “God save our gracious Queen” to “God save our gracious King”.

Royal Mail post-boxes bearing Queen Elizabeth’s royal cypher, ER, are unlikely to be removed. Some with King George VI’s GR cypher remain in use today, 70 years on. Royal Mail, however, will change stamps, with a profile image of the new monarch being used.

Queen Elizabeth II witnessed world wars, the fall of the USSR, the birth of Israel, atomic bombs, the invention of computers, the JFK assassination, the Moon landing, HIV/AIDS, the Internet, 9/11 and many more. She is probably the most widely travelled head of state in history.

KING Charles III has paid homage to “my darling Mama” in a heartfelt address to the country on the death of Elizabeth II, our Queen. Charles called the late queen an inspiration and example to him, praising her profound personal commitment to serving the people of the United Kingdom and her other realms. Charles also spoke of his profound sorrow at losing his mother, saying that he felt it “beyond measure.”

She was a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was respected and loved not only in Britain but all over the world for his generational standards of charity, internalisation, and public service. Her relationship with the British Parliament and the government wasn’t just on paper, it was active throughout her reign. For us, Queen Elizabeth’s era is a memory of life which will stand in the pages of history forever. May she rest in peace and rise in Glory!

The writer is based in UK, and has specialization in health informatics from Johns Hopkins University