During her latter years she had a lot of family difficulties, including the death of her husband. Her son Andrew was then revealed to have links with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. But during the pandemic, when the nation needed bringing together again, at a time when it was quite literally kept apart, she was there. She is going to be a very hard act to follow.
From Pelé, the “king of football”, to Britain’s longest-reigning queen, our editors and correspondents reflected on the accomplishments of many notable figures who died this year. But our obituaries editor shone a light also on the lives and legacies of lesser-known figures.
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