Name? Queen Elizabeth II
Westphalian identity? British
Age? 96†
Why is she in the news? Last night British Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.
Why do we care? Some of the RAIA team are quite positive towards the British monarchy as we admire her for the service she offered to her role or because we simply think she had a cute wave. However, others are more critical, for example, about the role the monarchy played in altering the Equality and Diversity Act to exclude ethnic minorities from working in royal properties.
Why should you care? On a foreign policy level, Queen Elizabeth II had almost no impact. However, some Commonwealth leaders felt that the post of head of state should not be transferred automatically from Queen Elizabeth II to her successor. We might see some changes here. You should care 2/10.
Who else cares? The majority of the world’s leaders. Twitter accounts of all sorts of heads of state and government were glowing last night expressing their thoughts towards the British public and monarchy last night. You can expect the vast majority of them to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral; however, while Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences he is not considering attending the funeral.
Any further comments? But what does the death of Queen Elizabeth II mean for the UK? Well, first of all, King Charles III will be head of state from now on. Similarly to his mother, you cannot expect any involvement in day-to-day British politics, however, given his past years of service, you can expect more words on global warming as Charles has been a long advocate of stronger environmentalism. Furthermore, it means a few days of extra vacation for Brits and the suspension of strikes during the days of mourning. Also, it is likely that coins and bills will be updated with a new face, the face of Charles.
