Judy: As mentioned, queen
Elizabeth was the longest
serving monarch in Britain's
history, and it is worth noting
that the event that changed the
course of her life, her uncle
Edward's abdication from the
throne so that he could marry
Wallis Simpson.
I spoke about the queens legacy
with a biographer and the author
of "That woman: The life of
Wallis Simpson."
Thank you for joining us on this
sad day for great Britain.
We can't even think of the
country without thinking of
queen Elizabeth, can't we?
>> It is such a privilege to
share my thoughts.
I think the most extraordinary
is obviously for a woman of 90
and frail health, one had to
expect she would eventually die,
and yet the sense of shock today
is absolute the palpable.
London where I am is absolutely
in shock.
The mood is very somber.
Judy: My colleague was just
speaking with people who were
reacting.
How is she seen by the British
people?
>> Even those people who are
possibly not monarchists will
say, I love the queen.
She united the British people.
She was a figure of stability.
I think if I can remember all of
the D's, duty, devotion,
discretion, all of those
old-fashioned values, she was a
link to the past.
She was a link to the war.
I mean, this is a serious
watershed moment.
She's held the country together
in so many ways during these
divisive times, but I think what
she represents is how we like to
see the best of ourselves.
What does it mean to be British?
Well, tradition and history and
duty, all of those things she
really represented, so it will
be a moment of change, and the
new king, king Charles, will
have to earn the love that his
mother had enjoyed for so long.
It is going to be difficult, but
I am sure we will come through.
Judy: So hard to sum up 70's,
but you had to say what her
legacy was, what you say?
>>>> I think her stability is
this stability, constancy, that
we are one nation.
She has grown the commonwealth
when empire was unfashionable.
She is the grandmother of the
nation.
She is a matriarchal figure.
She is someone we were all able
to see as our grandmother, so
she represents both a family
that has been through turmoil in
very difficult times of enormous
social change, and somehow she
has shown us a better way to be.
As I say, she has represented
the best of ourselves.
She has shown great discretion
and love.
Judy: We can't look into the
future, but how do you think the
monarchy will be different under
king Charles III?
>> The first thing he has said
openly is he wants a slimmed
down monarchy.
He doesn't want every niece,
nephew and grandchild to
necessarily be a working royal,
a "Paid royal," so it will
likely go down to William and
Catherine the first instance and
their children.
Of course, he must be aware he
is an anachronism in the 21st
century, so they have to show
that they are worth it in terms
of the work that they do, and I
think the work ethic of queen
Elizabeth was extraordinary.
She was constantly reading and
studying, and all the prime
ministers said, if you hadn't
read that cabinet document, she
certainly had.
Right up until yesterday, she
was doing her duty.
She was determined to carry on.
What she represented was this
continuity.
She lived through the abdication
crisis of 1936 when her uncle
gave up the throne, and her
uncle Edward who married Wallis
Simpson, that is what was shot
through in her veins -- you
don't give up.
You don't abdicate, and luckily
for her she didn't have to
because she died on the job.
It was a determination to keep
the country together, the
figurehead of the monarchy
showing us the best we could be
when, in 1936 quite frankly, the
monarchy had a shaky moment when
her mother, queen Elizabeth, the
queen mother, and her father
George VI took over, it was not
a given that they would weather
that storm, and they did.
She took over in 1952.
Immense continuity and stability
at every stage.
Judy: What a life.
We remember her today and for a
long time to come.
Please, tune in tonight for more
special coverage of the queens
rain, queen Elizabeth: A royal
life.
It airs tonight on pbs at 8:00
P.M.