Great Britain — and the world — mourns

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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It's not exactly a surprise when a 96-year-old dies, but the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday nevertheless delivered a "huge shock to the nation and the world," as British Prime Minister Liz Truss observed.

One needn't be a fan of royalty to join in the mourning for Elizabeth, the longest-serving monarch in British history. She was a source of strength and dignity and, above all, stability through all the upheavals that have visited the world since 1953. Britons who could agree on almost nothing else could come together to respect their head of state.

Truss, the 15th and final prime minister to present herself to Elizabeth, sounded the right notes in her brief appearance before the cameras outside 10 Downing Street. As she pointed out, Elizabeth would have approved her traditional peroration: "God save the king."

She was referring to Charles, Elizabeth's heir, who has waited decades to ascend the throne. Truss called him King Charles III, a title that he — and the world — must have at times doubted he would ever have.

But Britain will indeed have a new monarch — the same week Truss became the nation's prime minister. And while the roles are discreet and distinct by design, they are somehow intertwined. That's especially true now, with the United Kingdom buffeted by multiple crises that call for the nation, and its new leaders, to rally.

Elizabeth, for instance, lived and led through earlier versions of the energy and economic challenges just as tough as the one today's Britain faces. She faced the diminishment of an empire and an ongoing divorce from the European Union that's made the country even more of a metaphorical island. The changes and challenges may not stop there, as secession sentiment is still strong in Scotland. And her reign encompassed a span of global turmoil that's manifesting itself today.

While elected leaders, not an unelected monarch, made the decisions that caused or reacted to these changes, she helped position Britain, and Britons, as a place and a people uniquely able to adapt to any challenge. Accordingly, the country and world will benefit if Charles channels his late mother's ability to unify the U.K.

While a well-developed plan of succession, dubbed "Operation London Bridge," is already well underway, there is no such blueprint for a green prime minister who in her college days was an antimonarchist. Truss, of course, has come around from that position, and will now need to lead a nation in mourning. It's a fraught start and an opportunity to pull together the often-disunited United Kingdom.

Truss got off to a good start with her Thursday comments about the new king and her reflections about the queen, who she said "was the rock on which modern Britain was built. … Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed."

Truss later added: "And as we mourn, we must come together as a people to support him. To help him bear the awesome responsibility that he now carries for us all."