On Thursday, after hours of speculation about the Queen’s deteriorating health conditions, the Royal Family announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Britain’s longest reigning monarch, having ruled for over 70 years, is set to finally be laid to rest in the coming weeks.

King Charles III, formerly Prince Charles, has now succeeded his mother as the sole reigning monarch of the United Kingdom- but as he approaches his late 70’s, many worry about how long his reign will last. The United Kingdom will hold a series of ceremonies taking place over the next 10 days, that are expected to culminate in the Queen’s funeral, set to occur sometime early next week. 

The Queen was, throughout her lifetime, head of state for over 32 countries, and ruled over many more as colonies and territories of the UK before they completely broke ties with the kingdom. As a consequence, the death of the Queen will have far reaching geopolitical consequences that will affect many nations around the globe which we at Appeal to Diplomacy believe it is valuable to discuss. 

Political Consequences

The political consequences of the death of the Queen are certainly much more limited in scale than they might have been a century and a half earlier. The United Kingdom and all 14 of the commonwealth realms that the Queen ruled are all democracies run by elected representatives, with very little power (if any) left to the Queen herself. Other than some forlorn words by world leaders giving speeches mourning the Queen’s passing, this is unlikely to have any very serious political consequences for any particular nation. 

However, one possible (but largely symbolic) political consequence of the Queen’s passing could be the possibility that many Caribbean islands may begin to (as Barbados did last year) remove the British monarch as their head of state. The death of the Queen and the introduction of the mourning period have brought the topic of the monarchy back into the public discourse, and has reintroduced debate about whether the new King Charles should remain King. This news comes just after Jamaica recently signaled that it may be following in the footsteps of Barbados in becoming a republic and removing the British monarchy as head of state, as well as the Prime Minister of the Bahamas telling local news outlets on Friday that he is open to the idea of a referendum on the monarchy. 

Economic Consequences

Despite the limited political effects, the death of the Queen will certainly affect the UK economically. The closing of various institutions following the Queen’s death likely means that there will be a significant amount of closures of various institutions during the mourning period. Recently, this was extended to include a Bank Holiday on the day of the Queen’s funeral. In total, the mourning period is expected to cost the British Economy somewhere between 1.2 and 7 Billion pounds removed from total GDP. 

There also remains the fact that the Queen’s name, likeness, portrait, and initials appear on thousands of articles of UK government property; this includes stamps, passports, police and military equipment, mailboxes, and most notably, the various coins and banknotes of the British Pound. All of these items are expected to be gradually phased out or replaced with new depictions of King Charles- which will likely cost the government of the UK a significant amount of money. This also does not account for the fact that most nations where the Queen was still head of state at the time of her death also have currencies and other government articles featuring the Queen, many of which are also expected to be replaced with depictions of King Charles, costing the governments of these countries as well. 

Despite these costs, many Economists within the UK appear unconcerned about the death of the Queen’s economic impact, with one economist reportedly telling CNN Business that the anticipated economic impact on the UK would be “minor”. 

This comes at a particularly delicate time for the economy of the UK. Many Britons have witnessed skyrocketing energy bills and rising cost of living in recent weeks, as well as soaring inflation with the British pound recovering from a 37 year low point in value. At the time of the Queen’s death, many unions were also preparing to go on strike, however most have called off the strike due to the death of the Queen. It is unclear whether such strikes will occur after the mourning period has elapsed. As the new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss prepares to cap energy prices, a plan that will cost the British government 150 Billion pounds, it is unclear where the British economy is headed. 

Social Consequences

Many world leaders, politicians, and heads of state around the world expressed their condolences to the Royal Family, and mourned the death of the Queen. Even many leaders of countries that have been colonized by the UK, such as Kenya, India, and Ireland, have expressed their sorrow at the death of the UK’s longest reigning monarch. Perhaps most notably, the leaders of Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party, and Sinn Fein have all conveyed their dismay at the death of the Queen. 

However, the reaction to the Queen’s death may be more mixed than it appears to be by listening to world leaders. The circumstances that led to the Queen being head of state of as many countries as she was were often violent, antidemocratic, and completely against the will of the people residing in those places. 

Particularly in places where the British empire formerly ruled, reactions to the Queen’s death by some members of the public have been certainly mixed, despite the deliverance of condolences from many of the continent’s leaders. Among Africans, discourse is split among various members of the public- with some coming out in support of the Queen and mourning her loss, while others have expressed dissatisfaction with the Queen due to the colonial legacy of her office. It appears as though the African public remains divided on the issue, on a continent where 53 of its 54 nations are younger than the Queen at the time of her passing. 

In India, responses are equally mixed. India entered a day of mourning for the Queen, during which all flags were presented at half staff, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered condolences to the Queen’s family and the people of the UK. Once again, like Africa, the Indian public had a more mixed response to the demise of the successor to their former colonial overlord. Many members of the Indian public have questioned what will become of the Kohinoor Diamond, the centerpiece diamond in the Queen’s crown, said to have been taken from India during its time under British occupation. 

Regardless of how the Queen is viewed in the eyes of the public and in history going forward, everyone can agree that she was an extremely influential monarch who oversaw the end of the British Empire and the end of Britain’s superpower status- and her death signals the end of an era for Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the world.