She was an emblem of the nation for so long that millions of Britons measured their lives against hers and her family

The grief is genuine. The admiration for the woman who has been an emblem of a nation for so many decades is deeply sincere. There will be appreciation for the great care she took in such a fractious age not to take a side, express a view or add to the rifts that sharply divide the country. Every nation needs a figurehead; and, however perverse the sheer randomness of being born into that role, she did it with remarkable skill and dignity.

How fitting that she should die just after performing her final and most important constitutional role, appointing a prime minister (her 15th). How glad many will be that she lived to see the last hurrah of her platinum jubilee. There’s no tragedy in the death of 96-year-old who kept going to the very last. Isn’t that the way we all wish to go?

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

‘Hundreds’ of photos exist of Australian soldiers drinking from dead Afghan’s prosthetic leg, court told

Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawyers in his defamation action say they have been overwhelmed…

Blazes erupt across California as state bakes in scorching heat

Seven firefighters hospitalized, with extreme temperatures expected to last through Labor Day…

Older people more likely to catch Covid a second time

Study finds under-65s have about 80% protection from virus for at least…