the british twilight

The death of Queen Elizabeth II ends not only the life of an extraordinary person, but that of a historical cycle for an entire nation.

At only 25 years old, the then princess ascended the throne in 1952 and in this way for the majority of the British people Elizabeth has been the monarch of her entire life.

She has left a benchmark of serenity, stability and solidity.

The feeling of loss is something that touches everyone and the pain is deeply felt.

But beyond the personal, the death of Elizabeth II will give rise to even deeper reflections at the national level.

For the last five centuries, the economy, politics and culture of the British Isles have been underpinned by a central concept, the empire, and its history dominated by three queens: Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II.

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Queen Elizabeth I gave the fledgling empire a major boost.

Intrepid travelers like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake explored new lands in America and embarked on brutal plunder.

Literature and the arts flourished under the brightest star of all, William Shakespeare.

During Victoria's reign in the 19th century, the British empire expanded and consolidated, from India to Africa, so that it became a project on which "the sun never set."

However, an unbreakable rule of history is that empires never last and when the young Elizabeth became queen, the British already had their days numbered.

During World War II, the British led an international effort to defeat Nazism in the name of freedom, democracy, and self-determination.

Not surprisingly, other countries that had lived under the British flag now demanded the same rights.

And so it was that, throughout the postwar era, Queen Elizabeth II presided over the dismantling of the empire that her illustrious predecessors, Elizabeth I and Victoria, had done so much to build.

In 1962, former US Secretary of State Dean Acherson made a poignant observation: Britain had lost an empire but not found a role.

Acherson was certainly right, but the decline from a global empire to a minor power never became a debacle thanks in part to the Commonwealth and the presence of Elizabeth II as head of state.

The queen embodied a very clear image of a shared identity, and historical connection, that appealed to many people inside and outside the UK.

The exact purpose of the Commonwealth — an organization of some 50 countries from the former British empire — has never been crystal clear.

But Queen Elizabeth's dignity was very important in establishing a sense of continuity, even when it was hard to articulate exactly why.

She embodied change without breaking with her global presence even when, on more rational analysis, the precise reasons for cohesion were harder to find.

This same ability to manage change smoothly was even more evident in British politics.

For some seven decades Elizabeth took her role as head of state very seriously and got to know well almost all of her 15 prime ministers who, in turn, spanned more than a century: the first head of government to serve Elizabeth was the illustrious statesman Winston Churchill, born in 1874 and the last, Liz Truss, was born in 1975. Every day, the queen received a personal report from Parliament and every week she met with the prime minister.

In their autobiographies, these leaders disagree on many issues, but there is total consensus on one point: each highly valued weekly meetings with the queen, both for her wisdom and her total discretion.

The queen revealed nothing of these conversations to anyone.

Unfortunately, that wisdom and stability that Elizabeth II brought so much to British politics have never been more necessary than now, because the challenges facing the United Kingdom are various and possibly existential.

The fragility of its economy has been fully exposed by the covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Brexit has accelerated economic decline and now threatens the unity of the UK.

The government formed by Scottish nationalists in Edinburgh is dedicated to calling another referendum to achieve independence.

Unionists in Northern Ireland, supported by Prime Minister Truss, are ready to break with the Good Friday Agreements and do irreparable damage to the EU's neighbours.

Both the foreign policy and the national cohesion of the United Kingdom are in danger.

David Mathieson

was an adviser to the British Government.

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