Last Saturday saw the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, mother of the present monarch, Elizabeth II. The queen mother, or "queen mum," as she was affectionately known, was 101 years old and had been in poor health for several months. Although her role in public life -- like that of most members of the royal family -- was purely ceremonial, her longevity and her image as a decent, dignified and kindly person mean that she will be genuinely missed by Britons, even those who have little time for royalty and its anachronistic trappings.
The people of Japan, who understand very well the power of royal births, marriages and deaths to briefly overcome skepticism about royalty as an institution, sympathize with their friends, the people of Britain, on this sad occasion.
It is not, of course, a sad occasion in the same sense Princess Diana's death was in 1997. Then, the British public's grief was both palpable and personal, even though the majority of Britons had never met or even seen the princess. But she was young, and beautiful, and troubled, and the mother of adolescent boys.