UK mourns monarch

SHOCK, sadness and anxiety describes the mood in the UK as the nation mourns Queen Elizabeth who died on Thursday.

Elizabeth, 96, reigned for seven decades, making her the longest serving British monarch. She was born on April 21, 1926, in central London. She ascended the throne at the age of 25 on February 6, 1952, and was married to the Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. This, after her father George VI died.

During her reign, Queen Elizabeth had 15 prime ministers and many more premiers across the realm of 15 Commonwealth countries. She received more than 110 presidents and prime ministers to the UK on their official visits.

The queen was also a royal patron or president of more than 500 charities, professional bodies and public service organisations.

In her lifetime, Britain’s royal family faced a number of challenges. These include the 1997 death of King Charles’s ex-wife Princess Diana in a car crash, her grandson Prince Harry and wife Meghan’ s decision to resign from royal duties and move to California in the US, and recently, the reputational damage of her son Prince Andrew who was accused of sexual assault in the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal case. Andrew settled the civil case.

Queen Elizabeth boldly continued with her duties while presenting a united front with her loved ones as tongues wagged, and faced with growing anti-royalist pressure.

She was mother to King Charles, her eldest son who has now ascended the throne supported by his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who is now the Queen Consort.

During his address to the Nation and Commonwealth on Friday, King Charles vowed to honour his mother’s dedication to her work as monarch, adding that he, too, would carry out his tasks with due diligence.

He named his first-born son, Prince William, as the new Prince of Wales, the title that had been his for more than 50 years.

The king also sent his love and best wishes to youngest son, Harry, and his family.

The British High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, said the queen’s death was a moment of great sadness.

“As the Prime Minister (Liz Truss) has said, Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built.

“Through her lifetime of public service, to which she memorably committed in an address delivered from Cape Town on her 21st birthday in 1947, she served the people of the Commonwealth with dignity and grace, and she leaves behind a lasting legacy of fostering friendships worldwide.”

Phillipson said mourning her death in the year of her Platinum Jubilee was especially poignant, adding that her commitment to deepening the partnership between the UK and South Africa was steadfast and long-held.

The state funeral will take place on September 19 and the queen’s body will lie in state for four days, royal officials announced yesterday.