Many moons ago, for circa 3 centuries, between the late 16th and early 18th centuries, the original British Empire was the foremost global power.
A worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protectorates, and other territories—the British Empire, under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government, remains the largest empire in recorded history.
It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England. At its height, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 35,500,000 km2 (13,700,000 sq mi), 24% of the Earth’s total land area.
Historically, it has always been referred to as, ‘The Empire Where The Sun Never Sets’ owing to the large total area of the globe it occupied so that, when the sun was setting in one corner of the empire, e.g. Australia, it was rising in another part of the same empire e.g. the Americas.
And to date, despite its reduced sphere of dominance, the Great Britain in many ways remains a major global power, with the monarch still clinging to power with little struggle.
But in April 2020, for the first time in a long time, the empire and the monarch, just like the rest of the world, face perhaps what is the most trying moment.
The reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II (93), who has reigned over the United Kingdom for 68 years and led her people through some of the most challenging and also some of victorious moments of the 20th and 21st Century is too feeling the heat of Coronavirus.
Two days ago, the queen made a rare speech to address United Kingdom amid the coronavirus crisis.
Since taking over the reigns in 1952, this was the 5th time she was addressing the nation outside her usual annual Christmas Day speech. The four other times she has made an extraordinary address have been during the Gulf War, the death of Princess Diana of Wales, the death of her mother, and her Diamond Jubilee.
In her COVID~19 speech , Queen Elizabeth || shared a personal memory of her first broadcast in 1940, when she was just 14.
To make matters worse, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now admitted in ICU after testing positive for COVID~19.
Indeed, even in the empire where it never used to set, the sun is now threatening to do so, albeit symbolically, by claiming the heartbeat of its governance system, the Prime Minister.
Will the monarch allow the sun to set?
Or should the monarch join the rest of the world and declare that indeed, #WeShallOvercome this monster?