Explainer: Who was Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, and what legacy does she leave behind?
- Britain’s longest-serving monarch, who recently celebrated her Platinum Jubilee after 70 years on the throne, died on Thursday at the age of 96
- The queen visited Hong Kong twice during the British Colonial era and lived through the Second World War, the Cold War, and 14 prime ministers
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II died at her Scottish estate, Balmoral Castle, on Thursday. The 96-year-old queen was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Photo: EPA-EFEQueen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-serving monarch who recently celebrated her Platinum Jubilee after 70 years on the throne, has died at the age of 96.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” a statement from Buckingham Palace read, referring to the castle in Scotland where the queen spent her summers. She died with her family by her side.
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Her son and heir, Charles – father to William and Harry – will now become King Charles III. He expressed great sadness over the passing of his mother.
“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world,” he said in a statement.
While the world mourns her death, let’s take a look at Her Majesty’s extraordinary reign.
Who was Queen Elizabeth?
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926, the firstborn child of Prince Albert, Duke of York, later known as King George VI. She was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, and Mary after her paternal grandmother, but her close family called her “Lilibet”. Queen Elizabeth’s only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born four years later, in 1930.
Although she would eventually become one of the world’s longest-serving monarchs, her succession was entirely due to fate.
Third in line to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward and her father, Queen Elizabeth was a highly unlikely heir. But after the abdication of her uncle Edward VIII – meaning he willingly gave up his claim to the throne to marry the American socialite Wallis Simpson – her father inherited the regency, meaning she would take his place when he died.
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The Queen became engaged to Prince Philip, her third cousin, at the age of 21. This marriage served as a crucial turning point in determining the queen’s status as heir presumptive. Philip was a Greek prince, but his family fled Greece after a revolution. His family also had ties with Nazis, so their alliance was unfavoured and disliked by many, and put the queen’s status as a potential heir at risk. Still, the couple married four months after announcing their engagement in 1947. Philip gave up his Greek title and became a British citizen, accepting the role of Duke of Edinburgh.
Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died unexpectedly in February 1952, and she became the queen of the United Kingdom at the age of 25.
In April 2021, the queen suffered the loss of Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years.
As the longest-serving monarch in British history, she has lived through the rise of Hitler and the Second World War, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the invention of the internet.
The monarch saw 15 British prime ministers, including the newest leader, Liz Truss, and 14 US presidents serve during her reign.
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What were some of her major achievements?
Having just celebrated her platinum jubilee, the queen has done much to be remembered by.
One of them was modernising how the royal family communicated with the public. From making her Christmas addresses via video to launching a Twitter account, the queen updated her ways of reaching out to the masses. She even broadcast a speech during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, assuring her subjects that better days were yet to come.
She also had more progressive views on who could be a leader. She even changed the royal law that favoured the “male primogenitor” over female heirs to the throne with the passing of the Crown Act in 2013.
She was the wealthiest monarch in British history. According to the Sunday Times “Rich List” in 2022, she had an estimated net worth of around US$425 million. Despite her wealth and status, she was a proponent of charity work and gave money to more than 60 non-governmental organisations, and hosted garden parties to raise money for the underprivileged.
Queen Elizabeth was also the first British monarch to address the US Congress and the only individual to have officially opened the Summer Olympic Games more than once. In 1976, her majesty opened the 1976 Montreal Games, and 36 years later she was on hand to officially open the 2012 London Olympics.
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What was the relationship like between the queen and Hong Kong?
Hong Kong was a British Colony from 1841 to 1997, and Queen Elizabeth visited twice during the Colonial era. During this time, the queen’s portrait appeared on postage stamps and currency in the city.
Elizabeth first visited Hong Kong in May 1975 with her husband Prince Philip. They visited Hong Kong City Hall, Morse Park, Oi Man Estate, the railway station at Hung Hom, the University of Hong Kong, and the Kwai Chung container port, among other places. They also watched the city’s first firework display since 1967. This visit inspired the city to build Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai. She paid a second visit to Hong Kong in 1986, after being the first British monarch to visit mainland China.
She had a good relationship with the people of Hong Kong, if not the government, after 1997. Although she may not be a relatable figure for young Hongkongers, people who grew up in British Hong Kong still recall her as the “Boss Lady”.
Many Hongkongers took to social media on Friday to mourn her death.
What happens now that she has died?
Titled Operation London Bridge, the funeral plan for the queen took effect immediately after her demise. The royal household will be in “royal mourning” for a month. Flags will fly at half-mast, palaces will be closed to the public and all royal public engagements have been cancelled.
King Charles III immediately took her place and appeared on television as king for the first time. The former Prince Charles spent 63 years as the Prince of Wales and is the oldest heir to inherit the regency. King Charles III’s official coronation will happen following a period of national mourning for the queen and after the essential preparations have been made.
In honour of the UK’s new royal ruler, the national anthem has been tweaked from “God Save the queen” to “God Save the King.” New dollar bills and stamps will also need to be printed with Charles’ face, as the current ones feature Elizabeth.