Global NewsQueen Elizabeth II Goes Home As World Leaders Bid Farewell

Queen Elizabeth II Goes Home As World Leaders Bid Farewell

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September 19, (THEWILL) – World leaders, Royals and the entire UK, on Monday, bid farewell to late Queen Elizabeth II at a grandeur funeral ceremony.

The longest reigning monarch died on September 8 at the age of 96 at the Balmoral Castle, Scotland. She was on the throne for 70 years.

With solemn pageantry, the funeral lay to rest something more than just the person of the Queen. For her son, King Charles III, it is a moment of thanksgiving for a life well lived.

Many people in Britain and in the 14 other realms of which Elizabeth remained head of state, have been surprised at the depth of the reaction around the world over the Queen’s death. Countries as far as Brazil and Cuba, which has no direct connection to the British monarchy, have held days of mourning.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, summed up the global response by noting that: “To you, she was your Queen. To us, she was The Queen.”

A glance at the guest list for the funeral provides an idea of the soft power Queen Elizabeth helped her country to project. The 2,000 invitees include a roll-call of monarchs from Belgium to Bhutan, of elected leaders and of ceremonial heads of state.

Among world’s Royals at the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in London include Japan’s Emperor, Naruhito and Empress Masako; King Harald V of Norway; Prince Albert II of Monaco; Dutch King Willem-Alexander; Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, and Philippe, King of the Belgians; Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II; Spain’s King Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia.

World leaders include US President, Joe Biden and his wife Jill, French President, Emmanuel Macron, Nigeria’s Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo, Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Vice-President Wang Qishan of China, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head, Charles Michel.

Other heads of state at the funeral include Sergio Mattarella of Italy, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, Isaac Herzog of Israel, Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea and Irish Prime Minister, Micheal Martin.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, New Zealand PM, Jacinda Ardern, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, Bangladeshi PM, Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Fijian PM, Frank Bainimarama, also graced the world event.

For the world as a whole, the Queen’s passing represents the turning of a historical page in a wider sense. Her extraordinary reign was in many ways the product of a unique confluence of circumstances. She came to the throne of what was still an empire, even as it was being dismantled and transforming itself into a commonwealth. She acceded at an unexpectedly young age, and proved to be remarkably long-lived.

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