THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The staff and contributors of The American were saddened beyond words to hear of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96. We share this grief with the people of the United Kingdom, the fifteen nations of which she was Head of State, and the Commonwealth, of which she was Head. But the emotional reaction to her passing is shared widely, beyond her realms. World leaders have paid tribute to the Queen.
President Joe Biden described her as charming, kind, generous, wise, incomparable and a stateswoman of unmatched dignity constancy who deepened the bedrock of the Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, knew the Queen for decades having first met her as a child when his father was PM. In an emotional speech he said "In a complicated world, her steady grace and resolve brought comfort to us all." In their "chats" she was "thoughtful, wise, curious, helpful, funny and so much more. She was one of my favourite people in the world, and I will miss her so."
Other dignitaries and heads of state described her as kind-hearted and a friend of France (President Emmanuel Macron), a great loss to the British people (Chinese President Xi Jinping), warm and kind (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi), with empathy and ability to connect with every passing generation, while remaining rooted in the tradition that truly mattered to her ... an example of true leadership (EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen). Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, said "her commitment to German-British reconciliation after the horrors of World War Two will remain unforgotten," and Saudi Arabia's King Salman described her as "a role model for leadership that will be immortalised in history".
The Queen also had a mischievous sense of humor. One example that Americans might appreciate came when she was walking with her protection officer, Richard Griffin, in the hills near her Balmoral estate. Two Americans on a walking holiday came into sight and the Queen said hello to them. They didn't recognize her, and asked where she lived. She said, 'Oh I live in London, but I have a holiday home just the other side of the hills.' They chatted for a while and she told them she'd been visiting the area for over 80 years. They said 'so you must have met the Queen?' Quick as a flash she said 'Well I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly.' They asked Griffin what the Queen was like and he told them "She can be very cantankerous at times, but she has a lovely sense of humour." Impressed, the tourist handed his camera to the Queen and asked her to take a photo of them with the man who'd met Queen Elizabeth! Griffin then took one of the Americans with Her Majesty, not letting on who she was.
The Queen, with a twinkle in her eye, said to Griffin, "I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America!"
The Queen was also the only world leader (possibly the only person) to have met 14 United States presidents. To celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee earlier this year we looked at these very Special Relationships, in a special feature in The American magazine: "When Harry (and Herbert and Dwight and Jack and Richard and Gerald and Jimmy and Ronnie and George and Bill and George and Barack and Donald and Joe) Met Liz".
