It's complicated. That's how a couple might explain a relationship that's closer than its history would suggest it should be. It also could describe the relationship between the United States and Britain. Witness the admiration for Queen Elizabeth II expressed by many Americans after her death Thursday.
The leader of a country that didn't want our nation to exist was mourned as if she were an American, too. "She stood in solidarity with the United States during our darkest days after 9/11, when she poignantly reminded us that 'Grief is the price we pay for love,'" said President Biden, one of 13 American presidents who met with Elizabeth during her 70-year reign. He was quoting Elizabeth's words of support to America after the 9/11 attack.
Philadelphia has a cherished memory of Elizabeth of when she visited our city in 1976 and left a 10-ton replica of the Liberty Bell to commemorate this country's Bicentennial. She said Britons should also celebrate Independence Day because the American Revolution taught her country a valuable lesson.
