社評0909 英女王伊麗莎白辭世查爾斯王子繼位

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英女王伊麗莎白辭世查爾斯王子繼位

英國女王伊麗莎白二世八日中午辭世，享年九十六歲的女王在位史上最長久，女王之兒子查尓斯正式繼承王位，正式頭銜是查爾斯三世。

隨著女王之駕崩，英國王室和政府已啟動了倫敦橋計劃處理女王之喪禮。

其子查爾斯在女玊辭世後發表一份公開聲明說：“我親愛的母親女王陛下辭世對我與全體家人來說是最為哀傷的時刻，我們深深哀悼一位受到愛戴的君主及摯愛的母親，英格蘭、大英王國及國協及全球無數人民都將有所感於女王之喪。”

伊麗莎白女王是全球在位最久之國家元首，1952 年她的父親喬治六世去世後，年僅二十五歲的伊麗莎白二世即位並於隔年六月正式加冕，當時英國依然保有舊帝國樣貌，階級和特權仍舊主導著社會。

對英國人而言，是國家隱定和延續之象徵，就在兩天前，新任首相特拉斯接受女王任命正式成為首相也是兩人最後一次之合照。

今天英國國力持續下滑，國內外情勢大不如前，君主制度是否有存在之功能也備受爭議。

大英帝國過去數百年之光輝日子巳経一去不返。

Queen Elizabeth II Has Died. Her Eldest Son, Charles, Is Now King

She was born a royal, but with little hope of ever wearing the crown.

Princess Elizabeth Mary was born on April 21, 1926. She was third in line to the throne after her uncle and her father, but a scandalous love affair changed the course of her life and paved the way for her to become the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch. She became a symbol of comfort and continuity and with her cool and reliable cheerfulness, made her overwhelmingly popular with the British public.

Elizabeth assumed the throne in 1952 at the age of 25 after the sudden death of her father in his sleep at the age of 56. Over the last 70 years, she worked with 15 British prime ministers and met every U.S. president during her time as queen, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson.

The majority of Britons have never known another monarch. She remained very popular until her death. She played an essential role in the functioning of the U.K. as a constitutional monarchy. After the British elections, it is the monarchy who calls on the political party to form the government.

Charles, 73, now will become king and how he will carry on his mother’s legacy will be a big question.