Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.
"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," it said in a statement. "The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
Elizabeth's eldest son Charles, 73, automatically becomes king of the United Kingdom and the head of state of 14 other realms including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. His wife Camilla becomes Queen Consort.
Her family had rushed to be by her side at her Scottish home, Balmoral Castle, after doctors expressed concern about her health. She had been suffering from what Buckingham Palace has called "episodic mobility problems" since the end of last year, forcing her to withdraw from nearly all her public engagements.
Queen Elizabeth II, who was also the world's oldest and longest-serving head of state, came to the throne following the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, when she was just 25.
She was crowned in June the following year. The first televised coronation was a foretaste of a new world in which the lives of the royals were to become increasingly scrutinised by the media.
"I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust," she said in a speech to her subjects on her coronation day.
Concerns over the health of the longest-reigning monarch in British history have snowballed lately, as Queen Elizabeth II was hospitalized for the first time since 2013 earlier this year with reasons as to why still unclear and on Thursday it was announced, several hours after it was reported that she would remain under medical supervision in Balmoral Castle and two days after appointing a new prime minister, that the longest-serving British monarch had died in Balmoral Castle, at 96.
In recent months, including just this week, she has shown deteriorating health despite maintaining her duties. Her Majesty's decision to skip a trip to Northern Ireland the same week and royal sources reporting she will be missing out on the upcoming UN climate change conference in Glasgow in the coming days as well. As we are reminded of the mortality of one of the most symbolic figures of the last century, let us take a fleeting look at the mark she left along the way.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Daughter of Prince Albert, duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, a young Elizabeth originally had very little chance of aceding to the throne until Edward VIII, her uncle, naively made the decision to marry an American woman by the name of Wallis Simpson. This decision instigated a constitutional crisis, as Simpson, a well-known socialite from Baltimore, had already been married and divorced once before. This scandalous (at the time) affair led to the immediate abdication of the king, leaving Elizabeth's father, now King George VI, as head of state.
After becoming heir presumptive to the British throne, Elizabeth's life expectedly underwent significant changes. Her mother earnestly prioritized her education, with thorough instruction from governesses, Eton historians, and visiting teachers from all over in the fields of languages and the arts. At the age of 21, early in 1947, her betrothal to marry distant cousin Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten was proclaimed and in November of that same year they married, furnishing Philip with the title of Duke of Edinburgh. The couple was to have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
It was in February of 1952, however, after months of serious decline with the health of her father, that she would take up the role that would turn her into the epochal figure she's become today.
While it could be argued that her coronation, the first ever to be broadcast live on television, would set the tone for a lifetime of similarly groundbreaking occasions, it also marked the beginning of a post-war period of welfare, stability, and security that she steadfastly overlooked throughout her nearly 70 year rule. And while the monarchy may seem anachronistic in today's world, it is important to recognize the changes Elizabeth brought to a typically reactionary institution, and the global impact that often accompanied them.
From the get-go, the Queen's reign was constantly characterized by change. She had little time to take a breath after her inaugural ceremony before she set off on a six-month tour around the world with Prince Philip, an attempt to stabilize the recently assembled Commonwealth of Nations and ensure good relations with Her Majesty's former colonies. This set a trend that would become highly respected during her reign, leading her to become the most widely travelled head of state and effectively placating any potential acrimony leftover from colonial times amongst the regions.
On top of the decolonisation that would essentially come to represent Britain's foreign policy in the latter half of the 20th century (bar Margaret Thatcher), Queen Elizabeth was responsible for appreciable change domestically as well, particularly with regards to the role of the monarchy in modern society. Accepting of the fact that it did not hold nearly as much power as it once did, the Queen embraced a monarchic role more akin to that of a motherly figure and was less stringent regarding many of the institution's traditional rules and customs. She was the first to allow the televising of the royal family's domestic life, in an attempt to assuage the nation in times of distress, and adopted a comparatively lax approach to matters such as the dissolution of her sister's marriage, which she condoned in 1978. During the early 1990s recession, she would even agree to pay taxes on her private income, albeit after significant criticism and protest from a hungry populace.
However, despite her extensive travels and appreciation of history, there is one party that is missing throughout the entirety of Her Majesty's reign; Israel. While the exact reasons are unknown, it is known that there was another member of the royal family that not only visited the Holy Land, but displayed a strong connection to the Jewish cause throughout his whole life. The Queen's husband Philip.
It is said that the late Duke of Edinburgh's conviction against anti-Semitism began as a young kid attending Gordonstoun School in Scotland, a German school he attended right at the peak of the National Socialist party's popularity. After recurrently witnessing anti-Semitic attacks, he harbored a sense of compassion for the Jewish people that would follow him to his death in 2021. A part of the British Royal Navy, the young lieutenant fought the Nazis in World War II and would continue to distance himself from them in the years to come, even banning his sisters, who had married Nazi officers, from his wedding to the Queen in 1947. His support would not be exemplified fully until 1994, however, when Prince Philip became the first royal family member to visit Israel and ended a de facto boycott of the state by the British monarchy.
It is in the context of these events that we ought all to view the 96-year-old monarch and, while not necessarily championing her, must recognize her significance in shaping the world as we know it today.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
