Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have heard the tragic news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The Queen died last Thursday afternoon on the feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth’s birthday. I remember sitting in the senior lounge and feeling shocked when I read the news. Queen Elizabeth held the throne since 1952, the longest standing reign of any living political figure. To put this in perspective, she reigned through 15 prime ministers, 7 popes, and 14 U.S. presidents. News of her majesty’s death rang throughout the world on every station and media platform.

Why was the world so infatuated with the Queen? She didn’t have much political power, nor a huge social media presence, and she symbolized much of what today’s society seems to hate: tradition, royalty, and privilege. Yet, she was still beloved by the world. Queen Elizabeth showed stability in fastly changing times, grace as a leader when many of the world’s leaders seemed corrupt and hellbent on division, and royal dignity in a world that objectifies people left and right. 

Queen Elizabeth represented the United Kingdom with true patriotism and honor. The Queen had many accomplishments including reforming the royal family’s finances, supporting racial equality in the 1960’s, donating almost $2 billion to charity, and becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history. Overall she brought a sliver of stability to our endlessly changing culture. While we’ve gone through intense political divides, wars, and the COVID pandemic, the Queen remained as one of the few constant and stable parts of our world. I hope King Charles III’s reign is filled with honor and grace like Queen Elizabeth’s. God save the Queen!