Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-serving monarch, has died at the age of 96.
Over the next couple of weeks, NYTLicensing will have an ongoing special series of stories and images curated from The New York Times and our Syndicate providers that will offer in-depth coverage of this momentous event.
Included will be news analyses, opinion pieces, visuals and lifestyle articles that present a retrospective on the life of Queen Elizabeth II along with global perspectives on how the transition of the throne to Prince Charles may impact the world.
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From THE NEW YORK TIMES OPINION:
Queen Elizabeth II Loved Her Job
By Tina Brown. 1,968 words.
Without the queen, how will anyone know how to be British anymore?
(Tina Brown is the author of “The Diana Chronicles” and “The Palace Papers.“)
Mourn the Queen, Not Her Empire
By Maya Jasanoff. 1,842 words.
She helped obscure a bloody history of decolonization whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged.
The Imperial Fictions Behind the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
By Caroline Elkins. 2,020 words.
Britain’s monarchy cannot be separated from its empire.
Also available in Spanish.
Prince Philip, the Man Who Walked Two Paces Behind the Queen
By Tina Brown. 1,227 words.
The Duke of Edinburgh understood that the rituals of monarchy were both ridiculous and necessary.
When a Private Loss Requires Public Grief
By Patti Davis. 902 words.
To mourn in public is to feel judged but supported, too.
My Family Fought the British Empire. I Reject Its Myths.
By Hari Kunzru. 1,064 words.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 ends the longest reign in British history, and it comes at a time when the life of the nation — and its future — feels uncertain.
From THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR NEWS SERVICE:
British Curry: A Dish That Defines Queen Elizabeth’s Reign?
By Shafi Musaddique. 1,135 words.
Queen Elizabeth’s reign has seen the ascension of curry from exotic fare to British national cuisine, echoing the changing awareness and identity of Britain from empire to postcolonial state.
Queen Elizabeth: The Monarch at the Heart of an Evolving Britain
By Sara Miller Llana. 1,887 words.
Through all of the tumult that has led to so much self-reflection in British society about the country’s place in the world, Queen Elizabeth’s legacy has been to maintain a sense of forward-moving purpose when pessimism and insecurity could have caused Britons to turn their backs.
A Monarch’s Patient Work Toward Post-Empire Equality
By The Monitor's Editorial Board. 459 words.
In her first formal address to the British Empire, on the advent of her 21st birthday in 1947, then-Princess Elizabeth offered what might have been heard as the boilerplate idealism of a young future sovereign not expecting the weight of the world to land on her shoulders anytime soon.
The Windsor Saga: Two Peerless Books on the British Royal Family
By Steve Donoghue. 765 words.
The British monarchy survived an abdication crisis in the 1930s, but will the institution last beyond Queen Elizabeth II’s reign?
From THE ECONOMIST:
How Does the British Monarchy’s Line of Succession Work
By The Economist. 539 words.
Prince Charles’s ascension to the throne would seem very different from his mother’s.
Where Does Britain’s Royal Family Get Its Money From?
By The Economist. 713 words.
The monarchy is funded by a mix of government largesse and private assets.
What King Charles Could Mean for the Monarchy’s Finances
733 words.
The new monarch wants a smaller firm but, without more transparency, costs won’t fall.
From SLATE:
Let the Descendants of Britain’s Empire Have Their Glee
By Nitish Pahwa. 883 words.
As the United Kingdom plunged into sorrow — both on the ground and online — upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the diaspora of the British Empire’s current and former colonies reacted, well, a bit differently.
Two Outdated Institutions Join Forces, Make One Doll to Rule Us All
By Cleo Levin. 811 words. With art.
If you were asked to think of a celebrity who would logically inspire the manufacturing of a Barbie made in their image, the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II might not be the first person to jump to mind.
The Uncanny Scenes After the Queen’s Death at a British Café Far From the Motherland
By Cleo Levin. 763 words. With art.
People’s grief took different forms — some were hanging around outside the store, commiserating; others were just coming in to buy armfuls of crisps or to pick up a takeout order of fish and chips. (A tribute of sorts.).
Wait, What Is Actually Happening to the Queen’s Corgis?
By Stephanie Howard-Smith. 1,637 words. With art.
It’s no surprise that the international public’s thoughts (and jokes) drifted immediately to the corgis. They are an integral part of the iconography of the Queen’s 70-year reign, and indelibly tied to her popular image.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO SERVICE:
Queen Elizabeth II: A Life in Photos
94 images and counting.
From The New York Times Photo Archives, a selection of images from the remarkable life of Queen Elizabeth II.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE:
Queen Elizabeth II and the Shape of 20th-Century Power Dressing
By Vanessa Friedman. 1,100 words.
Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, who died Thursday, remained resolutely mum about her political leanings throughout her time on the throne, as her role in her country’s constitutional monarchy decreed. Yet an indelible part of her legacy — along with her steadfast dedication to her country, its traditions and the symbolism of a tiara — was to create the prototype for a new kind of female power dressing in the latter half of the 20th century. “I have to be seen to be believed,” the queen famously said, and from the moment she became sovereign in 1952, at age 25, she clothed herself with that purpose in mind.
An Inscrutable Monarch, Endlessly Scrutinized Onstage and Onscreen
By Sarah Lyall. With photos. 1,570 words.
She was the most opaque of celebrities, a silent film star somehow thriving in a TikTok world. If no one except her closest friends and family knew what Queen Elizabeth II was really like, that’s exactly how she wanted it. Her regal reserve, her impassive expressions, her resistance to personal revelation — all of it made the queen, who died Thursday at 96, an irresistible object of imaginative speculation. Over the years, she was a character in an endless stream of feature films, made-for-TV movies and television series — biopics, satires, dramas, comedies, you name it — as well as in the occasional documentary, play, musical and novel.
Charles Ascends to a Role He Has Prepared for All His Life
By Mark Landler. With photos. 1,556 words.
Never, perhaps, has an heir been more ready for the crown. Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and a man born to be king, acceded to the throne on Thursday after being the designated successor for longer than anyone in the history of the British monarchy. As King Charles III, he will become sovereign of the world’s most important constitutional monarchy, head of the most storied royal family, and a symbol of continuity in a storm-tossed country.
A Woman Who Embodied the Myth of the Good Monarch
By Serge Schmemann. 1,202 words.
To function in an otherwise normal democracy, a hereditary monarchy requires that the citizenry accept a bit of fiction — namely that one family, standing above politics, can represent the nation and its values. That takes a bit of doing, especially with that most scrutinized royal house of them all, the Windsors, who reign over the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms. Few families have had as many public scandals and as much tabloid scrutiny. Yet it is the measure of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning queen ever, that she will be remembered less for any of that than for playing her part so well, with such dignity and for so long. As her country’s greatest playwright once wrote of the finale of another queen: “It is well done, and fitting for a princess / Descended of so many royal kings.”
9 Books to Read About Queen Elizabeth II
By The New York Times. 1,376 words.
During the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, through times of turbulence and peace, celebration, controversy and scandal, the monarchy has been an object of fascination. Here are nine books we recommend for a deeper understanding of Elizabeth, her family and her time as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The Queen Met 13 Sitting U.S. Presidents, Who Basked in Her Global Prestige
By Peter Baker. With photo. 1,482 words.
They danced with her, rode horses together and went for a boat ride or a picnic. They took her to church or a baseball game. They hosted her or were hosted by her for gala dinners and receptions. Most of all, they basked in her global prestige and historical majesty. Queen Elizabeth II met 13 sitting presidents of the United States during her long life, which has to be some kind of record, not to mention a test of diplomatic fortitude. Just when she broke in one, another would come along and she would dutifully roll out the red carpet or buckle up on her royal jet for yet another visit to the White House.
For Many People, a Face-To-Face Encounter With the Queen Was a Source of Wonder
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg. 757 words.
John Swanston clearly remembers when he met Queen Elizabeth II, even though it was more than 60 years ago, when he was a schoolboy. His father, a doctor from Thirsk in North Yorkshire, had sent him to a boarding school outside Edinburgh and the queen was on the hunt for a suitable school for her young son, Charles. Because he had recently won a special prize for outdoor skills, Swanston was selected as the only boy in the school to meet her. Now 83, he was among the crowd who gathered at Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday after the news of the queen’s death. He said that, while she had spoken to him that June day in 1958, he had virtually no memory of what she said: “I was overwhelmed.”
Queen Elizabeth II: The One Constant in an Inconstant World
By Sarah Lyall. 1,143 words.
Queen Elizabeth II was an analog celebrity in a digital age, perhaps the most famous, and famously inscrutable, woman in a world more inclined toward oversharing reality TV stars and internet influencers. Discreet, reserved, impassive of expression and reticent of manner, she embodied traditional British values and was as remarkable for the things she did not do — in service of her sense of duty and self-discipline — as for the things she did.
Tributes to Queen Are Tempered by Britain’s Bloody Colonial Past
By Abdi Latif Dahir, Lynsey Chutel and Elian Peltier. With art. 919 words.
Though Queen Elizabeth II was revered by many in Africa, her death also reignited a different sort of conversation — one that touched on the legacy of the British Empire and the brutality the monarchy meted out to people in its former colonies. In a younger generation of Africans growing up in a post-colonial world, some lamented that the queen never faced up to the grim aftermath of colonialism and empire, or issued an official apology. They said they wanted to use the moment to recall the oppression and horrors their parents and grandparents endured in the name of the Crown, and to urge for the return of crown jewels — rare massive diamonds — taken from the continent.
Queen Elizabeth, and the Power and Limitations of Inspiring Women
The Interpreter by Amanda Taub. With photo.1,088 words.
There is a story about women’s progress that goes something like this: For too long, women have been held back by the personal prejudices of misguided individuals and by society’s failure to imagine their potential for achievement. But if one extraordinary woman could cut her way through, others would be able to follow in her footsteps. Elizabeth II’s reign was easy to map onto that narrative: a monarch whose presence in the halls of power quietly refuted any argument that such places ought to be the sole province of men.
Camilla Becomes Queen Consort, Capping Years of Image Restoration
By Megan Specia. 1,225 words.
Earlier this year, Queen Elizabeth laid out how her daughter-in-law Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and wife of Prince Charles, should become the Queen Consort when Charles, “in the fullness of time,” ascended the throne. In everyday contexts she will be known simply as Queen Camilla. But even more important, Camilla’s ascendance was seen by many royal watchers and historians as a culmination of years of careful image repair by the royal couple, who had often endured outright abuse — much of it directed disproportionately at Camilla by the British tabloids.
Horses and ACC Football: Queen Elizabeth’s Decades as a Sports Fan
By Victor Mather. 1,119 words.
Queen Elizabeth II often found herself linked with the sporting world, as she was with so much of British culture during her life. She was not a competitive athlete, but she attended her share of sporting events and was a fixture of the equestrian set, and many of her children and grandchildren spent time on the playing fields.
Artists Discuss How They Turned the Queen Into an Icon
By Alex Marshall. 1,202 words.
Queen Elizabeth sat for hundreds of official portraits like Levine’s during her seven decades on the British throne. But what was it like for artists to meet her, and try to make a distinct image? We spoke to three artists behind key portraits of the queen to find out.
Queen’s Death Leaves U.K. Grappling With Its Sense of National Identity
By Mark Landler. With photos. 1,448 words.
No sooner had the long-anticipated news broken — that Queen Elizabeth II was dead — than Britain activated Operation London Bridge, the painstakingly choreographed funeral plan that guides the country through the rituals of tribute and mourning that culminate with her burial 10 days later. The queen’s death last week, at 96, is a genuinely traumatic event, leaving many in this stoic country anxious and unmoored. As they come to terms with the loss of a figure who embodied Britain, they are unsure of their nation’s identity, its economic and social well-being, or even its role in the world.
By Maureen Dowd. 816 words.
His whole life, King Charles has been in the shadow of women with more star power. First, his mother, the queen. Next, his first wife, Diana. Then, in recent years, Meghan Markle, with her breakaway from Buckingham Palace and her sensational Oprah interview alleging racism in the royal family. As the women around him held the spotlight, the Prince of Wales spent decades trying to find himself and prove he was not a mere ornament, fretting that he did not want a life of polo and cutting ribbons.
Prince William Is Now the Heir to the Throne
By Enjoli Liston. 307 words.
When the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday elevated her son Charles to the British throne, it also reordered the line of succession, with members of the royal family each moving up one position.
With Queen Gone, Former Colonies Find a Moment to Rethink Lasting Ties
By Damien Cave. 1,664 words.
Reconciling a seemingly benevolent queen with the often-cruel legacy of the British Empire is the conundrum at the heart of Britain’s post-imperial influence. The British royal family reigned over more territories and people than any other monarchy in history, and among the countries that have never quite let go of the crown, Queen Elizabeth II’s death creates an opening for those pushing to address the past more fully and rethink the vestiges of colonialism.
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