Queen Elizabeth II dies

8 September 2022

This blog was started to monitor unprecedented events in turbulent times and how the industry, and the wider world, responded.

So it must now record the announcement from Buckingham Palace this evening that Her Majesty the Queen has died. She was 96 and passed away peacefully at her Balmoral Castle residence in Aberdeenshire. 

Her eldest son Charles, the Prince of Wales, now becomes King Charles III. 

Whatever one’s views about having a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II earned universal respect because of her unceasing dedication to duty and service. She was the longest serving monarch in British history, celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year. 

Her death ushers in a period of acute constitutional change at a difficult period as the world comes to terms with issues like spiralling inflation, energy costs and divisive political debate, affecting people in different ways. 

It is against this background that many future decisions and actions will be made, influencing individuals and organisations, and calling for clear leadership. 

Meanwhile, we must reflect on the life of a remarkable woman and the end of an era. 

In 1977, Philip Larkin wrote a short poem for the Queen's Silver Jubilee: 

In times when nothing stood

but worsened, or grew strange, 

there was one constant good:

               she did not change.