Hannah Tomes Hannah Tomes

How the newspapers covered the Queen’s death

[Getty]

As the nation wakes up to its first day after the Queen’s death, newspapers in Britain – and around the world – have published historic editions to commemorate her 70-year reign. Here’s a look at some of them.

The Times focuses on the Queen’s extraordinary life of service. It also features a moving quote on the back page from her Christmas broadcast in 1957: ‘I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else: I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands, and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.’

The Guardian has chosen the same picture for their front page – a striking image from the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, when she was just 27 years old.

In the Daily Mail, columnist Sarah Vine asks: ‘How to find the words? Our grief is a hundred emotions, all of them hard to grasp,’ and remarks on the double rainbow that appeared over Buckingham Palace after her passing.

The Daily Telegraph repurposes a phrase spoken by the late monarch as she paid tribute to victims – and families – in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack. In his tribute to the Queen last night, President Joe Biden referenced her comment and how she stood with the US in its ‘darkest days’.

The Financial Times picks a smiling picture of the Queen, in the back of a carriage, for its front page.

‘Thank you’ was the simple message adorning the front page of the Daily Mirror, alongside a more recent picture of the Queen than many other papers have used.

The Sun emphasised the love its readers had for their monarch of 70 years and commemorated her passing with a 36-page special issue.

The i took a newsier approach than most papers, telling readers that the nation is set to enter a ten-day period of mourning and highlighting the historic week that has been: ‘UK has a new King and a new Prime Minister within 48 hours.’

France’s Le Figaro says, simply: ’Farewell to the Queen’.

Germany’s Der Spiegel uses a peaceful picture of the Queen with her eyes closed above the headline: ‘The last majesty’.

The New York Times highlights the national mourning period and the length of Queen Elizebeth II’s reign, calling her ’the steady hand of a nation’.

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