‘We loved you madam’, ‘Our hearts are broken’: pictures of Queen Elizabeth II made the front page of all British dailies on Friday, with special editions reviewing 96 years of life and 70 years and 7 months of reign.
The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent featured the official image of the 27-year-old monarch at her coronation in 1953, while The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Express preferred photos of an older Elizabeth II. black and white or color, but with the same solemnity.
“Sorrow is the price to pay for love,” headlines The Telegraph, quoting the Queen’s strong words to Americans after the September 11, 2001, jihadist attacks in New York (United States).
Love is a topic that appears very often in tabloid columns. “We’ve loved you ladies,” proclaims The Sun. “We are proud to have had you as our queen,” he added, as The Daily Express headlined “Our beloved queen is dead.”
“Our hearts are broken”, claims the Daily Mail, adding: “How can we find the words? Our grief is filled with hundreds of different emotions, and all of them are painful to understand.”
“Thank you” also appears a lot in articles, such as on the front page of the Daily Mirror.
– “Long live the king” –
Surprisingly, the death of Elizabeth II creates special editions of several dozen pages devoted to this historical event, with considerable influence for the United Kingdom and beyond.
“A light has gone from our lives. The day that the UK and many around the world have been dreading has arrived. She’s gone”, sad the editorial of the very popular tabloid The Sun.
“The mother of our nation. The most famous, most beloved, most respected woman in the world. The backbone of the UK. It is simply difficult to imagine the life of the country without his presence”, adds the daily. “The new world will seem strange to us.”
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In her obituary, The Times described Elizabeth II as “the woman who saved the monarchy”.
“It is thanks to his dedication and sense of mission that an institution that sometimes seemed outdated and unable to adapt to the values of contemporary society still maintains its relevance and remains popular today,” according to the daily.
In the columns of the left-wing newspaper The Guardian, the editorial believes that his disappearance marks the beginning of “a new future”. “The one element in our collective life that consistently and reliably remained the same (…) is gone,” he writes.
The Daily Telegraph also pays tribute to “a lifetime of service” to the United Kingdom. “She was more than a distant and matriarchal symbol of the nation, she was a constant guide and companion, always reassuring, even in the most turbulent times (…) The reign of Elizabeth II is over. Long live King Charles III”, he concludes.
