Mo Fellows // Contributing Writer
On Sep. 19, Britain paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth with an astounding funeral embedded with tradition. This funeral reflected the global popularity Queen Elizabeth enjoyed throughout her lifetime and the impact she had as the glue holding together the U.K, giving a broad sense of identity and lasting tradition.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets to mourn together during the ceremony. The queen’s coffin was taken past these mourners for her committal service and burial at St. George’s Chapel. There, she was separated from the Crown, for the final time. The funeral was anticipated and planned for years, although the powerful moments which took place at the funeral showed the clear magnitude of emotion felt by the public in this shocking time.
The loss of Queen Elizabeth felt very personal to citizens of the U.K. and beyond. Chris Rowe, a U.K. citizen watching the funeral with his wife, told CNN,“She isn’t just a 21st century monarch, she’s something more, the Queen represents the continuity of a hundreds-years-old tradition, the continuity of the nation.”
Queen Elizabeth was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Her 70-year rule was accompanied by war, pandemic, and growing uncertainty about Britain’s role on a global stage. Queen Elizabeth’s death has brought up some discussion of the country’s dark colonial past questioning her legacy. Regardless of the monarch’s legacy and its history, this death marks an end of a significant era. The death of Queen Elizabeth goes further than remembering a monarch but is seen as the death of a significant symbol of the country, an identity.
Following the Queen’s death, Charles was officially proclaimed king on Sep. 10, at the St. James’s Palace in London. King Charles III is the oldest person to become a British monarch. King Charles faces challenges as he attempts to take the place of his influential mother. Charles has been seen as controversial for years, giving him fairly low popularity ratings.
As Nikhil Kumar, deputy global editor for Grid News stated, “The exit of Queen Elizabeth II is a bit like removing Big Ben from the skyline of London. Whatever you think about it, whether you like it or not, it’s just been a fixture. It’s been a presence. Charles does not have that. He’s going to come and sit on the throne at a time when this country is going through a lot of turmoil.”
King Charles faces a difficult task in presiding over the throne, especially in times of political and economic turmoil within and outside of UK borders. The public is skeptical, but only time will dictate whether or not he’s up for the task. Queen Elizabeth is seemingly irreplaceable due to her long prominent rule. Her legacy will forever be in the bones of U.K. nationality, although the end of this era will bring about a fresh slate for what the next era of the monarch and beyond has in store.
