There was no caveat, or condition, or middle ground. There was no room permitted for compromise, accommodation, or splitting the difference. Sometimes, under certain circumstances, there can be give and take. That was not the case here.

Seventy years is an entire lifetime. For Queen Elizabeth II it was the longest reign, not only in the United Kingdom but in the history of the world. When she died last week at age 96, it was a globe-riveting event. And no matter how much we paid attention, or didn’t, important history was still being made. Unprecedented history.