How Should Queen Elizabeth II Be Remembered?

Queen Elizabeth II's death sparked voluminous praise from voices across the world, with many remembering her as a model of service, duty, and dignity. Others used the moment to recall and criticize Britain's history of colonialism.

The queen's death continues to be the top story from most major news sources, regardless of bias. Many voices, from world leaders to U.S. columnists across the political spectrum, fondly commemorated the queen's dignity and unprecedented reign. Praise for the queen seemed universal from right-rated voices. Many opinions from the left and center were also overwhelmingly positive, but not all. Some columns from left-rated outlets, such as a New York Times Opinion (Left bias) guest essay from a Harvard history professor, voiced personal respect for the queen while also arguing that she "helped obscure a bloody history" of British decolonization "whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged."

Some, including a Carnegie Mellon professor and a TV host in Argentina, had harsher words for the queen over her role in British colonialism; in a post that Twitter later removed, the professor wished for the queen's "pain to be excruciating." These criticisms were a focus of coverage from some right-rated outlets, which often framed them as being in bad taste.