With its queen gone, Britain ponders how to discuss death

A woman reacts next to flowers and messages for Queen Elizabeth II at the Green Park memorial, near Buckingham Palace, in London. Because she reigned and lived for so long, Queen Elizabeth II's death was a reminder that mortality and the march of time are inexorable. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP

Where goes Queen Elizabeth II, there – inevitably – go each of us and all those we love.

Because she reigned and lived for so long, seemingly immutable and immortal, the death of the British monarch after 70 years on the throne and 96 years of extraordinary life was a reminder, in Britain and beyond, that mortality and the march of time are inexorable, waiting for neither man nor woman, even a royal.