With Queen Elizabeth II, 20th century is also laid to rest

The laying to rest of the queen, whose 70-year reign witnessed the aftermath of World War II, the Cold War and dizzying technological change, marks a further step in a leave-taking with the 20th century.The British monarch exercises little real power but Elizabeth was a titanic figure on the 20th-century stage, whose first PM was wartime leader Winston Churchill, met the first man in space Yuri Gagarin, and made landmark visits to newly independent nations as the British Empire fell apart.