Around half of the world’s population is said to have watched the funeral on TV.
(Photo: Getty Images)
It fits quite well with our era, marked by pestilence and war, that a funeral of all things brings the world a little closer together. Now it’s not just any funeral. It is the funeral service for “the Queen”, as French Republican President Emmanuel Macron described the late Queen with respect and affection.
And it’s not the whole world that came together in London for a small UN General Assembly: Vladimir Putin and a few other dictators had to stay outside.
>> Read here in the Newsblog the events of the day of the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II
The fact that the mourning for Queen Elizabeth II could become a global event – around half of the world’s population is said to have watched the funeral on TV – has a lot to do with the extraordinary personality of the deceased. With her sense of duty, warmth and humor, Elizabeth II embodied much of what people want in their leaders. The fact that the history of the British monarchy also had its dark chapters during the colonial period remains unaffected.
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It wasn’t grand gestures that made Britain’s queen a global queen, it was her small human touches. The fact that she too was fallible, such as her hypothermic reaction to the tragic death of Lady Diana, only makes her even more human.
Perhaps this is also the Queen’s legacy: there is apparently a global longing not for perfect, but for authentic human leaders. You don’t need royal blood for that, and you don’t need the non-political luxury of a representative monarch.
It is an irony of our times that while the late Queen was closer to the people, many political leaders consider themselves the chosen few of history.
More: The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II goes beyond all dimensions