Newspapers in the Commonwealth and beyond have led with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many paying tribute to her accomplishments in seven decades on the throne. Some speculated about how the monarchy might change under King Charles III.
The Washington Post’s Twitter account followed the sober format preferred by newspapers in the UK, its front page showing a black-and-white portrait of a smiling Queen against a black background.
In her reign, Elizabeth served as a constant and reassuring figure in Britain and on the world stage as she helped lead her country through a period of profound shifts in geopolitical power and national identity. https://t.co/7iC302Hzwk
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 8, 2022
“In her reign, Elizabeth served as a constant and reassuring figure in Britain and on the world stage as she helped lead her country through a period of profound shifts in geopolitical power and national identity,” the newspaper said.
The New York Times’ front page said the Queen had “projected stability in a time of dramatic change for Britain”. Its front-page story, accompanied by a photograph of a pensive-looking Elizabeth in a gold dress and black hat, said her death “marks the loss of a revered monarch who presided over Britain’s adjustment to a postcolonial era and saw it through its divorce from the EU”.
Her years as sovereign, it added, “were a time of upheaval, in which she sought to project the royal family as a bastion of permanence in a world of shifting values”.
Some US coverage cast doubt on the legitimacy of future British monarchs, despite predictions that the Queen’s death would boost the royals’ popularity. The MSNBC columnist Hayes Brown wrote: “Charles, or more likely William, may yet find themselves presiding over a newfound surge of devotion to the crown. But it is all the more likely, and better, in my view, that Elizabeth II be viewed in history as the last of the British monarchs to have any real claim of ruling the British people.”
Canada’s Globe and Mail trailed a special commemorative section titled Remembering Our Queen that will feature a piece on her role in strengthening the countries’ “special bonds” and speculation on the monarchy’s future with King Charles as its head.
The cover of The Globe and Mail’s commemorative section remembering Queen Elizabeth.
— The Globe and Mail (@globeandmail) September 9, 2022
On newsstands Friday📰 pic.twitter.com/jfhAy8u3Gm
The Australian ran with a photo of the Queen waving, along with the words “Farewell, Our Noble Queen”. In an article beneath, the paper said news of her death had been greeted with “profound sorrow” in Australia and across the Commonwealth. The article quoted the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who described her as a person of “timeless decency”.
BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s head of state and the longest reigning monarch in history, has died. https://t.co/oxNg741x0d
— The Australian (@australian) September 8, 2022
The Sydney Morning Herald associate editor Tony Wright called on readers to welcome King Charles III – the “green monarch” – noting that “the longest-waiting ‘heir apparent’ in British history and now the oldest monarch to ascend the throne, has had seven decades to plan his reign. What might it look like?”
All hail King Charles III, the green monarch, and the oldest ever to ascend the throne. https://t.co/vBgkvEdfhb
— Ben Cubby (@bencubby) September 9, 2022
News of the Queen’s death was picked up by morning news shows and newspapers in Japan, where the announcement by Buckingham Palace came in the early hours of Friday.
TV networks ran reports on her 70-year reign, while the online version of the country’s biggest-selling newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, led with Liz Truss’s tribute, alongside a photo of the new prime minister.
The Asahi Shimbun reviewed the Queen’s attempts to heal the wounds of the second world war, noting the “deep” relationship between the royal family and Japan’s imperial family. The former emperor, Akihito, had visited the UK while crown prince in 1953, a year after the Queen ascended the throne, while the country’s wartime emperor, Hirohito, made a controversial visit in 1971.
“She cared about postwar reconciliation between the two countries … and forged a close relationship that spanned nearly 70 years,” the Asahi said.
China’s media covered the death extensively, across state media outlets including the Paper, Xinhua, China Daily, the Global Times, People’s Daily, and CGTN which also ran a live blog. Most focused on the history of her reign and the protocols for Charles’ succession. Many noted her 1986 visit to China, which president Xi Jinping noted in his message of condolence was the first by a British monarch.
Marc Roche, Le Monde’s London correspondent, said the Queen had been more than a working monarch. “She was also a symbol. Under her reign, the United Kingdom saw the joys of success and the pangs of defeat, demonstrating that the monarchy could be the connecting thread between the old, broken order and a new one yet to be invented,” he wrote in the French daily.
The German tabloid Bild covered key moments in Elizabeth’s life in typically breathless fashion, listing the war, the first moon landing, the age of the internet and the coronavirus pandemic. “One of the Queen’s greatest challenges: moving with the times!” it said. “And she succeeds: in 2020 she was the first British monarch to hold audiences via video call in her home office!”
Die @bild Titelseite von morgen. pic.twitter.com/g83U8gOnjD
— Johannes Boie (@johannesboie) September 8, 2022
Stanisław Skarżyński, the London correspondent for the Polish newspaper La Gazeta, joined Hayes Brown in questioning the future of the monarchy: “Despite Elizabeth’s achievements, the archaic institution of the monarchy remains in question, and will have to find its place in 21st-century Britain – and unfortunately for both Charles and William, being a white, heterosexual, wealthy man with a wonderful education is no longer a guarantee of success and immunity from the consequences of bad choices.”
The Queen’s death led every major New Zealand news website, all of which provided live updates from the UK as New Zealanders woke to the news.
Radio New Zealand featured a statement from its prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, about the Queen at her early-morning news conference on Friday: “She was extraordinary.”
The national broadcaster also chronicled the Queen’s 10 visits to New Zealand during her reign. “Here’s what happens now,” read a headline in the New Zealand Herald on a story explaining the process of succession – something that would not be known in detail to many New Zealanders, despite the British monarch being their head of state.
On the news platform Stuff, former women’s magazine editor Jenny Lynch wrote about the Queen’s influence on “a generation of New Zealand women”. She said: “New Zealand women were besotted with the Queen. At a time when many were confined to traditional homemaking roles (but perhaps yearned for something more) the Queen was a superstar – the ultimate career woman.”
“New Zealand in mourning,” was the headline on Newshub, which also featured Ardern’s early-morning wakeup call so she could be told of the Queen’s death: a police officer had shone a torch into the prime minister’s bedroom just after 5am New Zealand time.
The lead story on the e-edition of the Times of India declared an end to the “Elizabethan age”. The Hindustan Times recalled her three state visits to India, illustrated by a photograph of her alongside the country’s former prime minister, Indira Gandhi, in 1983. “The late queen cherished the ‘warmth and hospitality’ she received from the country during the visits over the course of her reign,” the newspaper said.
With additional reporting by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, Julian Borger in Washington and Xiaoqian Zhu.
