From Harper’s Weekly Review, a number of things that happened, some of which we all knew but some of which I’ll bet you didn’t. I didn’t. So you don’t get lost in the mass of stuff, I’m doing some bolding:
In Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II died at 96, ending a seven-decade reign. Parliament was suspended, soccer matches, fashion shows, and labor strikes were canceled, church bells were muffled, 96-round gun salutes rang out, and drug dealers offered discounts on cocaine and ketamine. In her final public acts, the queen accepted the resignation of former prime minister Boris Johnson, who, in a farewell speech, compared himself to a booster rocket and Cincinnatus, a Roman politician who returned from retirement as a dictator, and appointed as the new prime minister Liz Truss, who was supported by 0.3 percent of the electorate and who in 1994 described hereditary rule as “disgraceful.” Millions across the world mourned the queen, who refused to apologize for the monarchy’s role in slavery and colonialism, shaped legislation to exempt herself from racial and sexual discrimination laws, renewable-energy laws, and police searches, and didn’t pay income or capital gains taxes for over 40 years despite having an estimated net worth of over $500 million. “Our values have remained and must remain constant,” said the new king, Charles III, who does not have to pay inheritance tax. News of Charles’s accession was taken across Britain by heralds on horseback and to the Buckingham Palace bees by the royal beekeeper. “You knock on each hive and say, ‘The mistress is dead, but don’t you go. Your master will be a good master to you,’” he said. A Canadian citizenship ceremony was delayed after officials were confused about whom to swear allegiance to, a woman was arrested for holding up a sign that said “FUCK IMPERIALISM, ABOLISH THE MONARCHY,” and an 89-year-old woman who worked as an Elizabeth lookalike announced that she would retire. Prince Andrew, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein who this year settled a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl, will receive the queen’s corgis.
Can’t decide whether my favorite things involve the drug dealers’ discounts or the bees.