With deep sorrow the nation learned this afternoon of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Our longest-ever reigning monarch, she has been a loyal and steadfast presence in the national life of the United Kingdom for 70 years.

Her extraordinary integrity, unique record of public service, deep sense of faith and commitment to her role, have ensured that she will be remembered as a supreme example of a constitutional monarch.

As Prime Minister Truss said earlier today, “Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. Britain is the great country it is today because of her.”

She has been the only monarch that most of us will remember, and this is a profoundly sad moment in our nation’s history.

The thoughts of all of us at the Institute of Government & Public Policy go out to His Majesty the King and to the members of the Royal family, for their immense loss.

We reflect on the service Queen Elizabeth II gave to the Crown and to her people, in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and gives thanks for her life.

As we also reflect on the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we celebrate too – as it has done for a thousand years – the passing of the Crown to our new head of state:

His Majesty King Charles III.

God save the King!

James Green

Director

Institute of Government & Public Policy