The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Chandrikapersad Santokhi has expressed regret at the death of Queen Elizabeth II, adding that her commitment to service and devotion to duty during her 70-year reign was “a sterling example to all”.
“Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered for her love of and dedication to the Commonwealth of which she was a passionate supporter and leader,” the Surinamese president said in a statement issued hours after the death was announced.
“She was the one constant in a world of never-ending change.”
The CARICOM chairman said the Monarch’s memory will be long revered.
Between February 1952 and 2015, when the Queen last made an overseas visit, she also visited all but two Commonwealth countries (Cameroon and Rwanda) making near 200 trips and visits to Commonwealth and UK Overseas Territories. With many undertaken in the context of Cold War rivalry and tensions over decolonization, these visits aimed to sustain the Commonwealth despite its racial and ideological divisions.
A brief statement from Buckingham Palace said the 96-year-old monarch died peacefully at Balmoral Castle, which is the royal family’s estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
She had been placed under medical supervision earlier in the day after doctors became concerned for her health.
Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, took the throne on February 6, 1952, at the age of 26.
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