The funeral of Elizabeth II is held today: Britain Farewell to the "Queen of the Century"

The long years brought the queen to the British

An unprecedented "sense of the times"

On the morning of September 19, local time, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be held in the Cathedral of Westminster, London.

As the longest head of state in the world today, and the oldest head of state, since the throne in 1952, most glory and sadness of Elizabeth II monarchy's career have left deep marks in this church. Here she said goodbye to his father, King George VI, Princess Margaret, Mother Elizabeth, and Princess Diana, the daughter -in -law of her daughter -in -law who caught her in the biggest crisis of her life.

In April last year, Elizabeth II also bid farewell to Prince Philip, the husband who had lived a lifetime. After just less than a year and a half, on the afternoon of September 8, she died in the Balmoelle Castle in the royal family in Scotland. The legend of the "Century Queen" came to the end at the age of 96.

On September 9, 2022, in Windsor, England, people presented flowers outside the Cambridge gate. Photo/Visual China

In Westminster's Cathedral, Elizabeth II also vowed to dedicate his "short or long" life to the British people. In the end, her reign is indeed "as long as most British memories." The British "Guardian" pointed out that the long years brought the Queen to the British an unprecedented "sense of the times." Whether it is necessary to maintain the monarchy and whether it should maintain the huge expenses of the royal family is a topic of argument in this country. But when the Queen died, the entire Britain realized that the united empire and the tear society were united. The live broadcast of concubine, William and Kate's wedding was to see the old queen appeared as usual again and again, and greets Merry Christmas with a gentle voice. The Queen already exists in the daily life of each British. "

The change of the royal family "relative representative"

On February 6, 1952, Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip had a hunting hut on a Kenya called "treetops". That night, 7,000 kilometers away, Elizabeth's father and British King George VI died in his sleep. The princess's guard wrote in the diary: "Once in history: a young girl climbed up to the tree, it was the princess, and when he climbed down, he became the queen."

Without a transition period, the princess rushed back to London and crowned the British Queen Elizabeth II. Five months later, Elizabeth II completed the first global visits. Elegant, calm, and calmness is almost an unanimous evaluation she got. More than half a century later, her grandson William was still shocked by this: "She shows the quality she should have, and she is only 25 years old."

On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.

From the perspective of government affairs, the Queen's work is not complicated. A gorgeous carriage sends the "Red Box" to her residence with a major transaction report every morning, and takes away the documents that the Queen has seen one day in the past. She sometimes hooks a few hooks, but usually does not write any opinions. Since the "1640 Revolution" of the king, the British royal family and parliament have played more than 200 years of power. By the time Elizabeth II succeeded, constitutionalists summarized the relationship between the two in one sentence: "Even if the parliament allows the queen to sign the decree to hang her own, she can only sign it."

However, all issues other than government affairs are difficult for the queen. When Elizabeth II crowns, the royal family has no private life, and the monarch must be flawless. Although everyone who read Shakespeare knows that the gossip and scandal of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace are not less than the parliamentary building. The Queen's most important responsibility is to attend the royal public activities full of the schedule. Published a speech that will not cause any controversy, avoid any actions that may cause controversy, and ensure that he will not appear in the tabloid headline like his uncle pursuing his uncle in free love.

Elizabeth II has persisted for 70 years and occasionally innovated. In April 2020, in the face of the new crown epidemic, the Queen made the fifth and the last special speech in the country after the throne. She acknowledged that the British people lost their family members and suffer from economic difficulties during the epidemic, and used "World War II" to sing the national lyrics "We'll Meet Again" (we will meet again) to soothe people.

Most of the time, the Queen only maintains absolute consistency in thousands of activities and speeches. For such a choice made by the Queen and the royal family, Philip Murphy, a professor of history at the University of London, pointed out that this is of great significance to a stable society. Therefore, the queen has never resisted this "boring responsibility", which is her sense of responsibility.

However, since the Queen's ascension, British society has never stopped questioning: If the duty of the monarch is only repeated etiquette, does it still have the value? In the 1950s and 1960s, the rise of free thoughts, the British media abandoned the practice of "avoiding the royal family", and the royal gossip was full of newspapers. In 1961, the first lady of the US President Kennedy and the first lady of the people Jacqueline visited the United Kingdom, causing public disaster. The British media questioned that under the comparison of Jacqueline, the queen who "seemed to live in Victorian", coupled with her family that does not touch the people and scandals, why is Britain's symbol?

Elizabeth II never told her psychology at the time. Before becoming a monarch, she was the "representative of the people" of the royal family. In 1947, she was still a princess. She married Philip, and the scarred British just experienced the coldest winter in 50 years. The staff of the newlywed couple commanded the royal family to divide hundreds of tons of grain in the name of "wedding gifts" in the name of "wedding gifts" and divided them into small bags in the Buckingham Palace. Condolence letters. On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip held a wedding.

Facing many doubts at the society, the Queen decided to change the image and start with some small things. When Charles was 8 years old, the queen chose to photographer himself and filmed a family portrait that was regarded as shocking at the time: the royal members did not sit in the studio, but stood leisurely and stood in the small bridge flowing in the Buckingham Palace. This "idyllic sense" has become the unique symbol of Elizabeth II in the next half a century with Corgi, Land Rover off -road vehicles and vast mountains. Essence

Churchill's funeral in 1965 became another breakthrough. As the first prime minister after the Queen's throne, Churchill inspired Elizabeth II's thinking about the monarchy and the changes of the times. Buckingham Palace often heard the laughter of the two talks. The queen asked Churchill's funeral scale to be "in line with their historical status" and broke the tradition of the monarch who did not participate in the non -royal funeral. Immediately after that, in 1969, the first royal documentary was released, and 400 million people around the world saw the queen with Prince Edward buying candy on the street, but found that the money on her body was not enough ...

A thorough turning point occurred in 1997. On August 31, Princess Diana, who "looked at each other with a disgust" with the royal family, died unexpectedly. When Britain's beauty, care for the weak, and the fate of tragedy, the Queen issued a brief statement, and then vacated as usual, as if nothing happened. Clav Owen, author of "Elizabeth II and its era", pointed out that the queen originally believed that she needed to be the same as before, to maintain the "cold rationality" involved in the royal family. It wasn't until the witnessing the people's offering of Buckingham Palace that she realized that the people needed to be remembered, not rational, and not that "the queen is not in the palace, so she does not raise the flag, so she can't lower the flag".

The Queen chose to compromise, and the half -flag descended. The plan prepared for the Empress Dowager was also used for the funeral of the "Princess of the People's Princess". 2.5 billion people around the world watched the live broadcast. Later that year, the queen admitted that the monarchy without the people could not survive. Since then, the queen and more and more royal families have begun to show their emotions to the public. Every British personally projected his attitude towards daily life to the royal family, and co -concentrate on marriage with the queen for marriage, children's growth, and death of loved ones. Walk the dog and let go.

"After a long running -in, the British finally accepted the queen and used her as the" grandmother 'of this country to be a friend who accompanied everyone to experience the era and fall. "The royal biographical writer Lesli Carlole was" China News Weekly pointed out that "her son III may never reach this height, because he will not have so much time when he is high."

On May 23, 2022, London, England, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain visited the Chelsea Flower Show. The Chelsea Flower Exhibition is hosted by the Royal Horticulture Society. It is the largest and most famous gardening expo in the world. In order to commemorate the 70th anniversary of British Queen Elizabeth II, a new variety of roses called "Elizabeth" were launched. Photo/Visual China

"I used my queen to risk danger"

On September 8, 2022, British Prime Minister Tras got the news of the Queen's death in his first parliament inquiry. At that time, she and the Labor Party leader received a small yellow note from the staff at the same time, and then left the venue together. Two hours later, the royal family announced the death of the Queen's death.

Two days ago, Tellas had just met the queen and became the 15th Prime Minister of Elizabeth II. This time, I have attracted much attention. One is because the photo shows that the Queen's skin is obviously worse, and the other is because Tras does not seem to be as standard as the "Iron Lady" Mrs. Sachel she worships the Queen's invitation. Thinking of the new Prime Minister's statement when he was young, he was worried about the relationship between the royal family and the new government.

On September 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom met with the British Conservative Party, Teslas, and appointed it as the new British Prime Minister. Photo/Visual China

Historically, every British Prime Minister requires the Queen to play different roles in accordance with the needs of the new government. Early Prime Minister hoped that the Queen would maintain the grace and majesty of the empire monarch, while latecomers increasingly giving the royal family modern colors. Prime Minister Wilson hopes that the queen responds to the people's opinions on the royal family in a more practical way. In 1997, the Queen ushered in the first Prime Minister Blair, who was regarded as the "might abolish the monarchy". The Labor politician hoped that the queen would sink to the people and use her own influence to become a spokesperson for public opinion.

The queen carefully meets the needs of modern "creation". In 1986, the Sunday Times reported that the queen was more dissatisfied with Mrs. Sachel's internal and foreign decisions. After a few hours after the report was issued, the queen called the Prime Minister in person to ensure that "everything in the report is vain." After the fire in 1992, public opinion questioned whether the maintenance fee of nearly 40 million pounds should be borne by the taxpayer. At that time, the Queen actively asked the royal family to start taxation. In the following 20 years, the royal family no longer increased. In his later years, the Queen increasingly reduced the elite royal activities and used more time to talk to ordinary people from all over the world. She often read the letters received by the royal family, including the help letter from tens of thousands of people from all over the country each year. After being informed that the letter has been transferred to the relevant departments, helping people often thank "His Majesty the Queen is interested in helping us solve the difficulties." Blair later lamented that the Queen's understanding of the public's needs sometimes even faster than himself, becoming "spiritual comfort to the government's disappointment."

For these prime ministers, the queen's diplomatic significance is also indispensable. After Elizabeth II's death, Harvard History professor and British historical expert Maya Asanov's comments published in the New York Times "Mourning Queen, not its empire" caused huge controversy. Comments pointed out that people should not romantize the Queen's era, the British Empire is cracking in her ruling period, the international influence of the London government has decreased significantly, and the queen tries to play a "stable symbol" in this declining empire.

During the Cold War, an elegant and friendly queen became the "soft power" of the UK. In 1961, the Queen visited the former British colony Ghana shortly after independence. In the age of racial isolation, she and Ghana's leader En Cruma danced, which was regarded as a symbol of the royal family to embrace the new era.

On June 2, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II watched the Queen ’s birthday parade on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. From left: Prince Charles in the UK, Queen Elizabeth II, British Cambridge Prince Louis, the Duke of Cambridge, British Cambridge Catherine, British Cambridge Princess Charlotte, British Cambridge Prince George, British Prince of Britain. Photo/Visual China

Before the Queen's visit, Ghana's political crisis was frequent. The royal family was deeply concerned about local security and believed that the queen might be used and "endorsed for the dictator." But Elizabeth II knew her task. After the visit, McMilun called the US President Kennedy to seek assistance to Ghana: "I took my queen and risked, and now it is your turn to take your money."

However, after Elizabeth II's death, the American media pointed out that the queen's diplomatic activities were contradictory. On the one hand, strict royal education and long -term foreign affairs experience make her one of the most outstanding diplomats with contemporary skills. She would never leave any guest at the banquet, and she would prepare gifts for all visits to the visiting countries. She invited diplomats in London to her castle to visit or even live. By using the titles and losses closer than general communication, she and the South African black sports leader Mandela established a special friendship.

But on the other hand, the queen is also unable to change the fact that British influence declines, and thus witnessed more and more foreign leaders' ignoring the royal etiquette. Michelle, the wife of former US President Barack Obama, put her hand on the back of the queen, and the next President Trump walked directly to the queen when he walked. Although such behavior made British public opinion uproar, the queen was no longer as dissatisfied as Jacqueline Kennedy. At the same time, the global visits of the Queen and the royal family can always harvest the "why not apologize to the atrocities of the year" in the former colonial country.

At the queen's funeral, such controversial scenes continued. Although the specifications of the funeral are the top world, there is also a "pragmatic side" behind the "emotional diplomacy". Some analysts believe that when the Ukrainian crisis has not been resolved, this will become a "work funeral" for Western leaders to discuss upgrading the issue of Ukraine's military assistance and sanctions on Russia.

On July 8, 2021, Queen Elizabeth II met with guests in Manchester Cathedral. Photo/Visual China

The steps that gradually slow down

Lesley Corol's last time I saw the Queen in 2011. Corol recalled "China News Weekly" that at that time, the queen was wearing a light yellow suit and the same color hat. This is her unchanged dress style. Essence

Not just his own dress. Throughout his life, the Queen always tried to maintain a "unchanged" within a minimum. When she appeared in the public's sight for the last time she appointed Tras, the layout of the lobby behind her almost changed without any changes when Queen Victoria was reigned. British media suspect that the Queen really has a "aesthetic of Victorian", and she has never expressed enthusiasm for any new art form and trend. However, many people in British society respect and love her because of the Queen's persistence, thinking that this seems to show the "personality" of Elizabeth II beyond the queen.

The opposite of the queen is the opposite of her sister Princess Margaret. She never concealed the disgust of boring public activities, but enthusiastically, especially for jazz, collecting all kinds of precious records, watching the performances. Jazz Legendary Character Louis Amsterram marveling at her knowledge of pop music and emotion "Princess is really a fashionable woman." When Margaret was young, London people could also see her and her husband riding a motorcycle on the street at night. However, Princess Margaret has a close relationship with the queen. Margaret once revealed that the sisters had only quarreled twice in their lives. The royal family also supports the princess's hobbies in music, including producing a piano in her name. Some royal biography experts speculated that the queen restrained by the throne poured her longing for freedom to fall in love with Margaret. But the Queen himself has never confirmed this.

In February 2002, Princess Margaret died after the fourth stroke. At the end of her, she asked her private driver to burn many communication between herself and her family. A month later, the mother of the sister Elizabeth died. In 2021, Prince Philip died. In general, Margaret, Philip, and Queen Mother are supporters of the Queen Reform and a few royal members of the royal family who can talk to the queen frankly.

After the three relatives left one after another, the queen's footsteps gradually slowed down. In the crisis caused by the members of the royal family on Meghan's "racial discrimination", British society expressed a new hope of the diversified reform of the royal family. This made the queen under great pressure in the last years. But the British media said that although Prince Diana's son, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were not popular in the royal family, the queen could always talk to Harry. However, Harry arrived at the Balmoles Castle after his grandmother's death. Princess Kate, the wife of Prince William and Prince William, did not arrive at the queen as soon as possible because of taking care of her children.

Clav Owen once pointed out that starting on February 6, 1952, "the queen has no choice and asked her if she regret becoming the queen." However, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) quoted the "royal observant" and said that the happiest time in the queen's life was before this: from 1947 to 1952, she and Philip's new wedding Yaner lived with the military officer's husband. On the island of Malta. The wind is fine there, Elizabeth often droves on the island by himself, and associates equally with other military officers and wives.

Send 2022.9.19 Total Issue 1061 "China News Weekly" magazine

Magazine Title: Elizabeth II: "The Queen of the Century" with a bright dress

Reporter: [email protected])

Edit: Xu Fangqing

Operation editor: Xiao Ran

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