Queen Elizabeth II Has Died at 96

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest reigning monarch and a much-loved image of nationwide stability, has died at Balmoral Fort, her house in Scotland. She was 96 and can be succeeded by her eldest son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign was extraordinary from the very begin. Born on Apr. 21, 1926, in London’s Mayfair, she was the primary baby of the Duke of York, the second son of the then-reigning monarch King George V, and the Duchess of York. It was solely when her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 that her father turned King George VI, making Princess Elizabeth the inheritor presumptive.

When her father died on the age of 56, she took the throne on the younger age of 25, presiding over the tip of the British empire and the rise of the Commonwealth of Nations. Within the years that adopted, she met weekly with the 15 UK prime ministers who served throughout her reign, from Winston Churchil to the lately departed Boris Johnson. This week, she welcomed newly-appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss at a time of rising nationwide uncertainty.

The Queen’s dying begins a 10-day interval of mourning. The date of her funeral has not but been confirmed. (The British Trend Council confirmed that London Trend Week, scheduled for subsequent week, will proceed, although occasions scheduled for the day of the funeral are to be rescheduled and all events and different non-essential occasions cancelled).

In contrast to that of her predecessors, the Queen’s picture was routinely captured and circulated within the media, notably with the rise of 24-hour information and social media. Her outfits, usually daring in color and accessorised with go-to gadgets like her black Launer purse, Anello & Davide or Ferragamo loafers and her three-strand pearl necklace have been scrutinised the world over.

However as her childhood good friend Alathea Fitzalan Howard wrote in “The Windsor Diaries,” Queen Elizabeth was not a pure clotheshorse. Reasonably, she developed an appreciation for style as a great tool as she fulfilled her duties.

She is credited with inventing the idea of “sartorial diplomacy,” or the act of utilizing style as a gesture of diplomatic goodwill. For instance, she wore a maple leaf brooch that first belonged to the Queen Mom on visits to Canada in each 1951 and 2010. On numerous different travels overseas, she mirrored the colors of the receiving nation’s flag in her ensemble.

The follow goes again to her coronation robe, designed by British couturier Norman Hartnell. The white duchesse satin costume was lined in an intricate latticework design that featured the nationwide flowers of varied Commonwealth international locations, equivalent to New Zealand’s fern, South Africa’s protea and, after all, England’s Tudor rose.

“She was one of many first public figures to grasp that her style may ship a message and was ready to make use of style on a a lot bigger scale,” mentioned royal style professional Christine Ross. “Reasonably than being seen in a single portrait yearly, she could possibly be seen by the general public each day.”

She’s additionally used style to ship extra delicate messages honouring members of the family, equivalent to sporting the sapphire brooch she first wore in her engagement pictures with Prince Philip throughout her annual Christmas tackle in 2021, the yr that he died.

Her wedding ceremony costume was certainly one of her most notable ensembles, worn in 1947 when she married Prince Philip. Designed by Hartnell, the ivory silk satin robe was encrusted with 10,000 seed pearls. She famously had to make use of rationing coupons to create her wedding ceremony robe, although the federal government gifted her an additional 200 coupons to cowl the prices.

In newer years, the Queen turned recognized for her vibrant monochromatic ensembles, which she wore in an effort to guarantee she stood out within the crowds that so usually surrounded her throughout public engagements. She has been steadily quoted as saying “I’ve to be seen to be believed,” that means that being out, about and visual was key to the way forward for the monarchy.

Going through mounting social pressures, her reign additionally noticed a transfer away from the fixed gilded glamour that had beforehand been synonymous with kings and queens, with gadgets like tiaras now worn just for official portraits and state dinners.

For over 1 / 4 century, her senior dresser and private assistant was Angela Kelly, a designer, dressmaker and milliner who was the architect of lots of the Queen’s ensembles within the final many years of her life. Couturier Stewart Parvin additionally served as a royal dressmaker. Each have been made members of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour usually reserved for many who served the Queen or her household.

“Though the Queen doesn’t contemplate herself to be a style icon, I’m very conscious that many individuals do,” wrote Kelly in her 2019 guide “The Different Facet of the Coin,” the place she detailed her work as senior dresser and pulled again the curtain on the Queen’s style. “She is all the time on-trend, trendsetting, in reality, by no means places a foot incorrect relating to selecting the outfits she wears and takes inspiration from the traditional types of Dior and Chanel.”

In at this time’s style business, her legacy is most prominently felt by way of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design, handed out yearly by the British Trend Council to recognise a promising younger British designer that additionally has demonstrated consideration to sustainability and group. In 2018, when the award was first introduced to designer Richard Quinn, the Queen attended his London Trend Week present, sitting subsequent to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Past style, the Queen’s life has been a daily function of popular culture: Helen Mirren performed her within the 2006 movie “The Queen” and the play “The Viewers,” successful an Oscar and a Tony. Since 2016, a brand new era of individuals has gotten to know Queen Elizabeth by way of Netfilx’s well-liked collection “The Crown,” by which she was performed by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman. She’s additionally had her personal moments within the pop-cultural highlight, showing in a video with Jmaes Bond actor Daniel Craig for the London Olympics in 2012, in addition to a current clip with with Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee earlier this yr.

She marked her Platinum Jubilee, 70 years on the throne, in June of this yr with a 4-day celebration.

Keep tuned for BoF updates to this growing story.