In the sense that Britain today along with the wider Commonwealth nations lost a long-reigning monarch, the day is extraordinary in marking the end of an epoch. Queen Elizabeth, at 96 was a British treasure, the Queen whose iconic reign saw history unfold for close to 71 years. A lifetime on the throne, inheriting a vast empire from the United Kingdom's colonial days, she committed to represent every corner of her empire, through active interest in their welfare and occasional personal state visits. Bit by bit some of those nations of which Queen Elizabeth was recognized as their constitutional monarch saw fit to break away as autonomous republics. 

The British empire may have been reduced but the Queen who once presided over their affairs retained an affection for them all. None could ever criticize her firm conviction that she was born to apply herself each and every day to her duty as Queen of all she surveyed. Hers was a magnanimous spirit, with a fondness for 'her people' that manifested itself in her constant attention not only to the affairs of state but concern for the welfare of all residing in those states that formed a part of the Commonwealth of Nations.

A familiar and much-admired figure, her public/private life was intermingled for nothing could be kept from the eyes and candid opinion of all who surveyed the inner sanctum of a woman whose close family members were in the public eye. Some of those family members; children and grandchildren, met her expectations as committed members of a family whose attention to the public weal never wavered but occasionally wobbled.

Critical eyes from the outside looking in and toward the lapses in judgement as one family member after another negotiated their way through the storms of intimate relationships, and found them wanting. They were a far cry from the mutual admiration and respect that the Queen and her consort, Prince Philip evinced through their lengthy private personal relationship. Their discreet and loving life together celebrated the nature of a time seemingly passed when mutual regard, respect and  admiration one for the other was viewed as normally traditional.

When Irving and I set out on our afternoon hike through the forest trails on a warm, sunny afternoon, it was with the very recent knowledge that the world was shorn of the presence of an extraordinary woman. Whose oldest son, in the tradition of succession is prepared to step into the newly-created breach. Protocol will demand a period of deep mourning, before any formal transition with the pomp and ceremony that marks such an occasion takes place.

 

We have our memories of Elizabeth's long reign. Memories that take us back to our childhood. As of now going forward, Britain and those who still regard their nations as part of the Commonwealth and treasure their link to the British throne, its parliamentary system and traditions of justice will welcome King Charles III to the throne of the English realm. 

Our wandering about in the ravine through the forest trails was replete with reminiscences and discussions between ourselves of our impressions over the years and our thoughts for the present, much less the future. Queen Elizabeth was a popular, well-loved head of state. Her son may be somewhat less so; the world has been exposed to much more of Charles, his interests and his passions than they were  of his mother before she assumed royal duties on her father's untimely death. Elizabeth promised her total attention and focus to her home audience and she met those self-imposed obligations with grace and dispatch.

What her son and heir to the throne may deliver to a skeptical public may be another thing altogether. But then, there are issues associated with his background and lifestyle, focus and public utterances that are uniquely his own and not necessarily shared by those whose fealty he now commands.

Queen Elizabeth II crowns her son Charles, Prince of Wales during his investiture ceremony on July 1, 1969, at Caernafon Castle in Wales, as Britain's Home Secretary James Callaghan looks on. (AP Photo, File)