“The Full Spectrum of Emotions”: Late-Night Hosts React to Queen Elizabeth II’s Death

The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah took a slightly different approach in his remarks about the queen’s passing, highlighting the mixed response to her death across the globe. In a contrast to Corden’s “universally adored” characterization, Noah said of the late monarch, “It’s been interesting to see how varied the reactions to this news have been. You know, the full spectrum of emotions—everything from ‘How will the kingdom carry on?’ all the way to ‘You shouldn’t have colonized India, bye bitch.’”

Noah was born in South Africa, a nation that used to be a subject of the British empire. He noted that despite anyone’s personal feelings about the queen, the length of her reign was truly impressive, marking her time in the various Batmans she witnessed while upon the throne. “She’s seen Adam West as Batman, Michael Keaton as Batman, Christian Bale as Batman, Ben Affleck as Batman, survived that, and then saw Robert Pattinson as Batman,” he joked. “And look, I’m sure there’s a better way to measure time than in Batman, but you get it. She’s been in the game for a minute.”

“She was a queen, the real deal,” Noah continued. “You just post a photo of your smoothie online, and everyone’s like ‘Yeah, self-care queen.’ No, that doesn’t make you a queen. You’re a duchess of self-care at best.”

He ended the short segment by remarking on how it was “weird” that Prince Charles, now King Charles III, held the same title as his grandchildren at age 73 until yesterday. “The world wasn’t made for an old prince,” he joked. “I can tell you now there’s no one in a Disney movie who’s like, ‘Someday my prince will come, and he’ll wear orthopedic shoes and eat cottage cheese for every meal.’ Charles is so old, he’s gonna be the first royal to ascend the throne in one of those motorized stairlifts.”