The peace we take for granted
Some of the tributes to Her Majesty would have been unthinkable not long ago.
When Princess Diana was tragically killed in 1997, I remember being struck by the tributes - official and unofficial - from so many people in the United States and in France. The former violently broke away from the Empire and the latter was Britain’s historic enemy, yet their people were shaken and saddened by the death of a (former) Royal.
The passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II has led some people to act like complete assholes on Twitter,1 but the reaction from Britain’s old adversaries and former colonies - some of whom would have good reason to be snarky about the death of a British monarch - has been overwhelmingly respectful and even legitimately sad:
Some Irish newspapers even called Elizabeth, who broke new ground by visiting the Republic in 2011 a “friend”:
Britain’s historic enemy? The country it fought against twice in the twentieth century? The one that revolted all those years ago? Respect and condolences across the board:
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