Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral during on the afternoon of 8 September in Scotland. Her death was announced on September 9, around 5:00 am. (NZ time.) – Originally reported 9 September 2022
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”
Woman of the faith
British monarchs, although they hold the titles “defender of the faith” and “supreme governor of the Church of England,” are not necessarily believers themselves. But Elizabeth II was a monarch apart.
“To understand her relationship to faith, you have to distinguish between Queen Elizabeth II, sovereign and formal, and Elizabeth Windsor, whose personal faith was alive,” explained Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican priest who was the Queen’s honorary chaplain from 2008-2017.
“The constitutional balance requires that the Queen not express personal opinions,” said Ashenden, who became a Roman Catholic in 2019.
“So the fact that she spoke openly about her faith was not insignificant,” he pointed out.
This is
our country’s saddest day…
She seemed so timeless
and so wonderful
that I’m afraid
we had come to believe,
like children,
that she would just go on and on.”
Behind closed doors, Elizabeth II was very religious.
“Everyone knows that the Queen said her prayers, read the Bible and went to church every week,” said Matthew Dennison, another of her biographers.
Elizabeth II was very open towards Catholics, who had long been reviled in the United Kingdom and seen by Queen Victoria as a risk to the country’s security.
“(Elizabeth) called Cardinal Basil Hume ‘our cardinal’ and was very affectionate with Cardinal Murphy O’Connor,” said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, former provincial of England and then Master of the Order of Preachers.
“She also appointed a Catholic as Lord Chamberlain, the first time since the Reformation!” he pointed out.
Queen Elizabeth met five popes during her long reign. The only ones who served during her lifetime whom she never met were Paul VI and John Paul I, who died just 33 days after becoming pope.
She provoked discontent among some Britons attached to state Anglicanism when she attended Catholic Vespers in Westminster Cathedral in 1995 for the church’s 100th anniversary.
Pope Francis
Francis said he joins everyone who mourns her loss “in praying for the late Queen’s eternal rest, and in paying tribute to her life of unstinting service to the good of the Nation and the Commonwealth, her example of devotion to duty, her steadfast witness of faith in Jesus Christ and her firm hope in his promises.”
“I willingly join all who mourn her loss in praying for the late Queen’s eternal rest, and in paying tribute to her life of unstinting service to the good of the Nation and the Commonwealth,” the Pope said.
Shortly after her death, Pope Francis sent a message to offer his condolences to King Charles III for the death of his mother, the UK’s longest-serving monarch.
“Deeply saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I offer heartfelt condolences to Your Majesty, the Members of the Royal Family, the People of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”
Pope Francis also commended “her noble soul” to the mercy of God the Father.
“I assure Your Majesty of my prayers that Almighty God will sustain you with his unfailing grace as you now take up your high responsibilities as King. Upon you and all who cherish the memory of your late mother, I invoke an abundance of divine blessings as a pledge of comfort and strength in the Lord.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, paid tribute to her Christian faith and life of unstinting service.
“On 21 April 1947, on her twenty-first birthday, Princess Elizabeth said, ‘I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service’.
“Now, seventy-five years later, we are heartbroken in our loss at her death, and so full of admiration for the unfailing way in which she fulfilled that declaration.
“Even in my sorrow, shared with so many around the world, I am filled with an immense sense of gratitude for the gift to the world that has been the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
“At this time, we pray for the repose of the soul of Her Majesty. We do so with confidence because the Christian faith marked every day of her life and activity.
“In her Millennium Christmas message, she said, ‘To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.’
“This faith, so often and so eloquently proclaimed in her public messages, has been an inspiration to me, and I am sure to many. The wisdom, stability and service which she consistently embodied, often in circumstances of extreme difficulty, are a shining legacy and testament to her faith.
“Our prayer is that she is now received into the merciful presence of God, there to be reunited with her beloved Prince Philip. This is the promise of our faith, and our deep consolation.
“Queen Elizabeth II will remain, always, a shining light in our history. May she now rest in peace.”
Elizabeth made 10 visits to New Zealand – seen here on the 1981 Royal tour.
Archbishop Justin Welby
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “It is with profound sadness that I join the nation, the Commonwealth and the world in mourning the death of Her Late Majesty The Queen. My prayers are with The King and the Royal Family. May God draw near them and comfort them in the days, weeks and months ahead.
“As we grieve together, we know that, in losing our beloved Queen, we have lost the person whose steadfast loyalty, service and humility has helped us make sense of who we are through decades of extraordinary change in our world, nation and society.
“As deep as our grief runs, even deeper is our gratitude for Her Late Majesty’s extraordinary dedication to the United Kingdom, her Realms and the Commonwealth. Through times of war and hardship, through seasons of upheaval and change, and through moments of joy and celebration, we have been sustained by Her Late Majesty’s faith in what and who we are called to be.
“In the darkest days of the Coronavirus pandemic, The Late Queen spoke powerfully of the light that no darkness can overcome. As she had done before, she reminded us of a deep truth about ourselves – we are a people of hope who care for one another. Even as The Late Queen mourned the loss of her beloved husband, Prince Philip, we saw once again evidence of her courage, resilience and instinct for putting the needs of others first – all signs of a deeply rooted Christian faith.
“As we sustain one another in the face of this challenge, our shared grieving will also be a work of shared reimagining. I pray that we commence this journey with a sense of Her Late Majesty’s faith and confidence in the future.
“As a faithful Christian disciple, and also Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she lived out her faith every day of her life. Her trust in God and profound love for God was foundational in how she led her life – hour by hour, day by day.
“In The Late Queen’s life, we saw what it means to receive the gift of life we have been given by God and – through patient, humble, selfless service – share it as a gift to others.
“Her Late Majesty found great joy and fulfilment in the service of her people and her God, ‘whose service is perfect freedom’ (BCP). For giving her whole life to us, and allowing her life of service to be an instrument of God’s peace among us, we owe her a debt of gratitude beyond measure.
“The Late Queen leaves behind a truly extraordinary legacy: one that is found in almost every corner of our national life, as well as the lives of so many nations around the world, and especially in the Commonwealth.
“It was my great privilege to meet Her Late Majesty on many occasions. Her clarity of thinking, capacity for careful listening, inquiring mind, humour, remarkable memory and extraordinary kindness invariably left me conscious of the blessing that she has been to us all.
“In my prayers at this time I also give thanks for the marriage of The Late Queen and His Late Royal Highness Prince Philip. Theirs was an inspirational example of Christian marriage – rooted in friendship, nourished by shared faith, and turned outwards in service to others.”
“Grief is the price we pay for love.”
Cardinal Arthur Roche
In Rome, UK Cardinal, Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said Queen Elizabeth “not only dedicated herself unstintingly to serve her people, but also entrusted this to God’s protection.
“Her Christian faith, expressed so often in her annual Christmas messages and elsewhere, were moments of outstanding witness to her faith, the Gospel and the values of the common good, family life, peace and concord among peoples.
“Her graciousness and common touch, her statesmanship and love for her people in the many countries, cultures and religions of the Commonwealth have witnessed an unbroken and unique bond of dedication to the service of others. She has been greatly loved by all.”