ELIZABETH II. The withdrawal of Elizabeth II, unable to carry out her ceremonial missions, raises concerns in the United Kingdom. But also questions of a political nature.
[Updated November 17, 2021 at 12:43 p.m.] How is the Queen of England? Elizabeth II is for the time being forced to rest, at home, her back pain and physical weakness linked to her age (95 years) no longer allowing her to ensure her official trips. Tuesday, November 16, she was replaced by her son Edward, Duke of Wessex, at the opening of the synod of the Church of England, where she was originally supposed to go. The sovereign had written a statement, him by his son. "It's hard to believe it's been over 50 years since Prince Philip and I attended the very first synod meeting. None of us can slow down the passage of time, and although we often focus on all this which has changed over the years, many things remain unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and its teachings,” she wrote, in a very nostalgic tone.
Sunday November 14, on the occasion of the ceremony of Remembrance, in London, invoking painful lumbar problems, Buckingham palace had made it known that Elizabeth could not attend Remembrance Day. The cancellation had taken place only a few hours before the start of homage. Thursday, November 11, Buckingham Palace said that the monarch had the "firm intention" to participate in this ceremony in tribute to the victims of wars, when she had to give up participating in several events in recent weeks, on the advice of his doctors.
The Prime Minister, relay of the doctors on the communication
Boris Johnson wanted to allay concerns, judging that it was the responsibility of the head of government to take stock of the state of health of the sovereign. During a press conference, the British Prime Minister said: "I know everyone sends their best wishes to Her Majesty The Queen. I just want to reassure everyone. I saw the Queen last Wednesday Windsor and she's doing great. I shouldn't have to say this, but I wanted to tell you anyway." This is not the first time that Boris Johnson has tried to reassure about the Queen's state of health: on October 30, during an interview with Channel 4, he said: "I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week and she is in very good shape. The doctors have told her she needs to rest, and I think we need to respect and understand that. All Britons wish her a speedy recovery." .
Among the British, however, concern reigns. For some subjects of His Majesty, these successive withdrawals hide something more important. Thus, Marc Roche, biographer of Elizabeth II, estimated Marc Roche at the microphone of TF1 that "for having missed a ceremony which has so many symbols which are dear to him, the armed forces, the Second World War and his parents, the Commonwealth , it's that there is something important going on with his health and that we may be hiding from us". In addition, these recent cancellations follow a night spent in the hospital by the monarch, between October 20 and 21. According to the British journalist from France 24 Philip Turle, quoted by France Info on the occasion of the Queen's withdrawal from COP26, "there are two ways of looking at Buckingham Palace's announcement. The first is that the situation is perhaps more serious than it is said.In another way, it is true that she is a 95 year old old lady, who had an extremely busy month of October, with visits to Edinburgh , Buckingham Palace, received Bill Gates during his appointments, telecommutes every day... No other person his age in the world has such a busy schedule." Always quoted by France Info, the journalist also mentions as a possible reason, contamination linked to Covid-19. "At the moment in Britain there has been a marked increase in the number of cases of Covid-19. The Queen's doctors do not want to take any risk to her health."
What happens if Elizabeth II dies?
In the order of succession to the throne, it is the Queen's son, the long controversial Prince of Wales, Charles, who will become king after the death of his mother. If he in turn were to die, his son William, Duke of Cambridge, would ascend the throne. After the latter, it is Georges of Cambridge, eldest son of William and Catherine, known as Kate, Middleton, who will accede to the throne, followed, in the order of his younger sister Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and his brother, the Prince Louis of Cambridge.
The United Kingdom already ready for the death of the Queen of England
What is certain is that everything is ready to organize the funeral of the queen at the announcement of her death and that nothing is left to chance. And for everything to go as planned, the main stakeholders are getting ready. The British press also tells us that the British ministers met in the greatest secrecy, Thursday, June 28, 2018, in order to "rehearse" the procedure to follow when the death of Queen Elizabeth II takes place. They thus prepared "the hours and the days which will follow the death of the queen". The Times reports that the drill, dubbed "Castle Dove," was coordinated by David Lidington, Prime Minister Theresa May's deputy.
We know that ten days of national mourning will be decreed on the announcement of the death of the woman who has been in power since 1952. According to information collected by Le Point, "600 members of Her Majesty's Privy Council will have to ratify the accession of the new king to the throne". Finally, the Queen's remains "will be solemnly laid out for five days in Westminster Hall". The protocol also determines when the Prime Minister will speak to inform the British people of the news. Still, "the general rehearsal" would, according to the ministers, have no connection with the state of health of the queen, who, inevitably, questions. According to the latest indiscretions, the queen is fine. These health concerns would require hospital intervention on the knees, but the queen would refuse to have the operation because, according to Gala, "convalescence would take her too long".
@404Daij_ @Rinkusuii @keshvwnn @mogvvai @WestsideStace Right?? Do they not see how they didn't even acknowledge the… https://t.co/lTi2M8bYlr
— Chelsea Monet Mon May 14 14:55:20 +0000 2018
For the death of Elizabeth II, a plan worthy of 007
The information of the death of Elizabeth II, when it occurs, will follow a very particular path before becoming public. "London Bridge is down, I repeat, London Bridge is down", here is the sentence, worthy of a code used by spies, that the private secretary of the queen will transmit to designated emissaries on the day of his death. Information that will remain, for a few hours, a defense secret. Buckingham wishes above all to control this event, which once revealed, will spiral out of control.
The Prime Minister will be notified, as well as the heads of member states of the Commonwealth. “The information will travel like the compression wave before an earthquake, detectable only by special equipment”, describes journalist Sam Knight, with Le Parisien. And when the announcement is made to the media, a second part of the system will be put in place. A black sign will be visible at the gates of Buckingham Palace, the residence of Queen Elizabeth, installed by a valet in mourning clothes.
Flags across the UK will be dropped and several bans will be put in place: football matches, golf in the royal parks and minute detail, the National Theater will be banned from performing, only if the announcement of the death of Elizabeth II falls before 4 p.m.! Days of commemorations will follow with in particular the procession of Buckingham Palace, symbolized by a gigantic military parade, until the climax, the funeral, which will take place nine days after the death.
On that date, which will look like a real public holiday, many trades will be entitled to a rest: closed shops, inactive stock market... The buses will even stop for a few moments at 11 a.m., during the arrival of the coffin at Westminster Abbey, when saying a final farewell to Elizabeth II, "Britain's last living link with our former greatness", notes Sam Knight.
Elizabeth II, an extraordinary life
The image of Queen Elizabeth II does not leave many people indifferent. If her career seems smoothed over the years, what do you really know about the key events in her royal life? On the highlights of his reign? On the conditions under which she ascended the throne and her family tree? On his record longevity? Or on the atmosphere reigning in his family and among his people?
Age and birthdays of Elizabeth II
Although she celebrates her birthday twice a year (on April 21 and in June, to allow the military parade to take place in good weather), the weather seems to have no hold on Queen Elizabeth II. And yet... the one who celebrated her 93rd birthday on April 21 has already celebrated her golden jubilee, or fiftieth anniversary of her reign, for more than a decade, in 2002, and her jubilee of diamond (60 years of reign) in 2012. Result: out of age, Elizabeth II has already seen 12 British Prime Ministers (from Winston Churchill to David Cameron) and 9 French Presidents.
Longevity is also a family story among the Windsors: the mother of "Lizzie", the Queen Mother, died at the age of 101 on April 1, 2002. Her son Charles, the eternal Prince of Wales, can therefore well wait a little longer to reign in turn. In the meantime, His Majesty turns out to be rather phlegmatic. Stéphane Bern also says of her that she "accompanies the changes more than she anticipates them".
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
If today it seems to have always been acquired, the coronation of Elizabeth II was done in haste, due to the premature death of her father King George VI, on February 6, 1952, while the future queen the already replaced regularly in his official duties (that day traveling to Kenya). The one who was not destined to become a monarch at birth will actually be crowned the following year, at the age of 27. And will thereby become head of the Commonwealth from the British Empire, with 16 countries on the clock!
The ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey and will be broadcast live in several European countries, using around a hundred cameras (around twenty in the abbey, around fifty in the streets of London), a technical feat at the time. Enough to reach a hundred million viewers! The queen successively wears three crowns during the ceremony: the ceremonial tiara of her father George IV upon entering the abbey; the crown of Saint Edward, a jewel set with more than 400 precious stones during his coronation; the Imperial State Crown on its release, adorned with the Stuart sapphire, the ruby of the Black Prince and the famous Cullinan II, a 300-carat diamond. 7,000 guests attend the coronation in the abbey when more than 3 million British citizens flock to see the royal carriage pass by.
Biography of Elizabeth II
Born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth II was not always queen. At 10, however, she was already heir to the abdication of the throne of her uncle Edward VIII. His father George VI had the functions of king. As for her husband, whom she married on November 20, 1947, it was then Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who became His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They will have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Prince William, eldest son of Prince Charles and Duke of Cambridge, meanwhile married the commoner Kate Middleton, who gave him two children (future heirs to the crown?), Georges and Charlotte.
Alongside the official biography, the Queen is surprising in many ways: she was a mechanic in the Army in 1945; she is fluent in French; it officially has an incalculable quantity of "royal fish" on the outskirts of the United Kingdom (dolphins, sharks, porpoises, sturgeons) or even, received as gifts during visits abroad animals which had nothing to do with chihuahuas, whether it's sloths from Brazil, black beavers from Canada or jaguars, all donated to London Zoo.
Her Majesty can also be warmer than it seems. And gaga of the last born of his royal family. "The Queen was really happy that our second child was a girl," Kate Middleton recently told the camera, "She always asks for news and she always leaves a gift in George's room at Buckingham Palace when we come." Elizabeth II also lets, according to Gala who viewed the extracts, Baby Georges call her "Gan-Gan". We are far from the protocol...
Family tree since Elizabeth II
VIDEO - In July 2013, Prince William and Catherine Middleton had their first child, a boy, who is the heir to the British crown after Princes Charles and William. It is therefore a future king who came to enlarge the Mountbatten-Windsor family. He was followed by Princess Charlotte in 2015. Here is a video summarizing the family tree of the British royal family since Elizabeth II.
"The British Royal Family"
