Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke on Saturday joined the global community in expressing “deepest condolences” to Britons on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, also expressed her “thoughts and sympathies to the newly ascendant King Charles III and the royal family as they contend with the impossible grief that always accompanies the loss of a loved one.
“With his ascendance to Head of State, King Charles III has inherited both the remarkable responsibilities of his station, along with the painful and undeniable stains of its history,” said Clarke, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York.
“Though British colonial rule is increasingly a distant memory, its legacy of cruelty and injustice remains in many nations of color across the globe,” she added. “This legacy is one that cannot be overcome through willful ignorance, but through acknowledgment and earnest effort.
“As the United Kingdom and the world march towards this new post-Elizabethan era, may it deliver the justice, fairness and forgiveness so many have so long awaited,” Clarke continued.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed his “deep sadness” at the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
As the UK’s longest-lived and longest-reigning Head of State, Guterres said the 96-year-old Queen was widely admired for her “grace, dignity, and dedication around the world.
“She was a reassuring presence throughout decades of sweeping change, including the decolonization of Africa and Asia and the evolution of the Commonwealth,” said Guterres in a statement.
Queen Elizabeth II was “a good friend of the United Nations,” he added, recalling that she had visited the UN’s New York headquarters twice, more than 50 years apart.
“She was deeply committed to many charitable and environmental causes and spoke movingly to delegates at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow,” recalled the UN chief. “The world will long remember her devotion and leadership.”
Queen Elizabeth II died on the estate known as Balmoral Castle in Scotland, which had served as a royal summer retreat.
Guterres noted that the Queen passed during “a fragile moment politically” after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent resignation.
New Prime Minister Liz Truss travelled on Tuesday to the royal castle in Scotland to be formally asked to form a government.
She became the 15th prime minister to hold office during the queen’s reign; the first was Winston Churchill.
Throughout her tenure, the Monarch served as a “living link to World War II Britain,” presided over a post-colonial era adjustment and saw the country through what some called “a bitter divorce” from the European Union during Brexit, Guterres noted.
On Thursday, the Biden administration extended deepest sympathies to His Majesty The King, the entire Royal Family, the people of the United Kingdom, and the peoples of the Commonwealth, including the Caribbean, on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Biden also directed that the US flag be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including those in the Caribbean, and on all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
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