Muristek
Queen Elizabeth II dies; she leaves legacy of popularity and good will in Britain and around the world POLIZEIBERLIN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONSQueen Elizabeth II, seen visiting Berlin in 2015, was known for her royal elegance and her down-to-earth warmth.
Queen Elizabeth II — the longest reigning monarch in Britain’s history and a head of state known for her warmth and smile during countless visits around the world, including Santa Barbara — has died. She was 96.
Buckingham Palace reported that Her Majesty died peacefully Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, is now King Charles III. His wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is now the Queen Consort. The palace said the couple was staying at Balmoral Thursday night and would return to London today. (In February, Queen Elizabeth said she wanted Camilla to become the Queen Consort, which is the traditional title for a woman who becomes queen through marriage.)
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who live in Montecito, left Thursday for Scotland.
King Charles III issued a statement on Twitter: “The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
WHITE HOUSE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONSPrince Charles is now King Charles III.“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother,” King Charles said. “I know her loss will be deeply felt through the country, the Realm and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
“During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held,” King Charles concluded.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden issued their statement following the queen’s death.
“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era,” they said. “In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who would have never known their country without her.”
WIKIMEDIA COMMONSElizabeth became the queen in 1953 at age 25.Queen Elizabeth’s death comes just two days after she carried out her constitutional duty at Balmoral of appointing Liz Truss as her 15th prime minister. Before that, she met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned.
As a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II couldn’t make political decisions or take sides in politics, but she served as a symbol of unity — someone who could inspire Britain, the Commonwealth and even the world during the best and worst of times. Politics rocked from one side to another, and prime ministers came and went. But the queen was the symbol of stability and permanence, someone with a blend of royal elegance and a down-to-earth style that endeared her to the world.
Prime ministers met with her weekly in private sessions to keep her updated on the government, and she addressed the British Parliament on the opening day of its sessions. On the West Coast, a throne was kept at the British Columbia parliament in Victoria, Canada, for the queen’s visits before that legislative body.
In addition to Britain, Queen Elizabeth served as the sovereign of more than a dozen Commonwealth countries that became independent from Britain but chose to keep the ceremonial ties. Among them are Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
In those countries and around the world, Her Majesty remained popular.
Queen Elizabeth is warmly remembered by those who saw her when she visited the Santa Barbara area on March 1, 1983.
Among her stops was the Santa Barbara Mission, where she met with Father Virgil Cordano on a stormy day.
“We saw her,” said JoAnn Cota, who along with her sister-in-law Joan Cota, was working at the mission’s gift shop. “We were able to be there when she went on tour, and she planted a tree (in the mission’s cemetery).
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTOQueen Elizabeth flashes a smile to thousands greeting her in Santa Barbara County in this 1983 News-Press photo.“She was lovely,” JoAnn, who stopped working in the gift shop in 2020, told the News-Press Thursday. “She was very kind and friendly.”
The queen was accompanied at the mission by Prince Philip and President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan.
“They brought bloodhounds through the Mission before she entered (for security), and we watched the queen plant a tree in the cemetery,” said Joan, who continues to work at the gift shop.
“She was mostly talking to Father Virgil,” JoAnn said.
The queen, prince and the Reagans also went to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, where a large crowd gathered to see Her Majesty unveil a plaque marking her visit.
Among them was Santa Barbara resident Judith Hill, who told the News-Press Thursday she was excited to be among the thousands to see the queen.
“We all were, the whole crowd was,” Ms. Hill said. “It was a very enthusiastic crowd.
“There was also a crowd at the (Santa Barbara) airport to meet her and her husband as well,” Ms. Hill said.
They arrived on one of Santa Barbara’s worst days for rain. “She’s a real trouper and a good sport,” Mike Deaver, President Reagan’s deputy chief of staff, told the News-Press at the time. Mr. Deaver accompanied the queen on her tour.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Santa Barbara County for six hours and 12 minutes. Half of that was in cars, according to a 1983 News-Press story.
The rain was so bad that the royal couple almost didn’t make it to Santa Barbara. The couple was flying from Long Beach, and the route to the Long Beach Airport — the Long Beach freeway — was flooded.
The queen, who was known for her tenacity throughout her reign, refused to give up. She insisted on going to Santa Barbara.
“So that’s when we sent for the Navy bus,” Mr. Deaver told the News-Press.
The queen and Prince Philip rode that to get through the flooded freeway to catch their flight from Long Beach to Santa Barbara. The queen sat next to the bus driver.
Apparently just as stubborn as the queen was President Reagan, who made certain that, despite the storm, the royal couple could have lunch with him and Nancy at the Reagans’ ranch — Rancho del Cielo — northwest of Santa Barbara.
So when they reached a turnoff from Highway 101 at Refugio Road (which had hairpin turns and no guardrails), the queen left her limousine for a four-wheel drive vehicle. Her Majesty donned boots and a raincoat and remained determined to go to the ranch.
At lunch, the Reagans, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip enjoyed a meal of tacos, enchiladas and refried beans.
“Afterward, the queen said, ‘That was so enjoyable, especially the used beans,’” said Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Elizabeth: The Life of a Modern Monarch” (2012, Random House).
At the Reagans’ ranch or beforehand, the wet weather didn’t dampen the queen’s spirits. Before the big crowd at the courthouse, Her Majesty flashed a warm smile before thousands.
It was the kind of warmth that stayed with her during a long life of service.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21, 1926 in Mayfair, London. The future queen made her first public speech at age 14 when she went on the BBC Children’s Hour on the radio and reassured children who had been separated from their parents during the Blitz during World War II.
Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece and Denmark on Nov. 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey. She gave birth to Charles, the Prince of Wales, in 1948. Two years later, Elizabeth and Philip’s second child, Anne, the Princess Royal, was born.
On Feb. 16, 1952, Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died, and she became queen at age 25. Her first prime minister was Winston Churchill, and her coronation — the first one in Britain’s history to be seen in the brand new medium of television, thanks to insistence by Prince Philip — took place June 2, 1953, at Westminster Abbey.
Afterward, Elizabeth started her long era of travels, beginning with a tour of the Commonwealth.
She gave birth to Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964, the year Elizabeth made history by visiting West Germany. She was the first British monarch to go to Germany in 52 years.
In 1977, the queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee.
And her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
In 2015, she outlived all previous British monarchs. The previous record holder was Queen Victoria.Two years later, Queen Elizabeth II became the first monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee. That marked 65 years on the throne.
That was followed this year for her Platinum Jubilee. That was for 70 years.
Ms. Smith, the author of the previously mentioned book about the queen, talked about Her Majesty in a 2012 appearance before the Channel City Club in Santa Barbara.
“I was able to meet the queen on three social occasions, so I saw her in relaxed and private settings,” Ms. Smith told the News-Press.
“She was funny, humble, down-to-earth, very expressive — she talks like an Italian, frequently waving her arms — highly observant, serene and caring,” Ms. Smith said during the 2012 interview.
She said that at Balmoral Castle, the queen tried to live as normal a life as possible.
“Elizabeth is known there as a country woman,” Ms. Smith told the News-Press. “She likes to entertain informally and afterward puts on a yellow rubber glove and does the dishes.”
This year, Her Majesty celebrated her 96th birthday at Sandringham, her country estate in Norfolk.
Britain’s longest-reigning monarch is survived by her three sons and daughter, eight grandchildren including Prince William (the next heir) and Prince Harry and 12 great-grandchildren — including Prince Harry and Meghan’s children (and two of Princess Diana’s grandchildren): Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
She was named “Lilibet” after her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
And under a 1917 decision by King George V, because Prince Harry is now the son of a sovereign (King Charles III), Archie and Lilibet are now Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
News-Press staff writer Marilyn McMahon contributed to this story.
email: dmason@newspress.com
The post The end of an era appeared first on Santa Barbara News-Press.