SILENT GRIEVING FAREWELL

Although Queen Elizabeth II was a crowned head, it was the caring grandmother, the pet-lover and the devoted wife that made an impression in our country. To most Argentines she came off as charismatic, soft-spoken and courteous but, in the UK, she endeared herself to her subjects most deeply because of the liberal principles which, as the head of a parliamentary monarchy, she embodied.

In its history, the UK has always been the fertile ground for liberal ideas to thrive. It was the land that produced such great thinkers as John Locke who believed in man’s natural right to life, liberty and property and which the late Queen symbolised. Likewise, it was the country where the industrial revolution broke out in the 18th century, not so much because of the coal mines but because of the right to property. In a world where autocratic regimes oppose liberal values, Queen Elizabeth’s long reign was meant to preserve them, which is why so many British subjects , living in a multicultural society , queued to pay her their last silent grieving tribute.

Adrian Insaubralde, Santa Fe