IUCr mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II

The IUCr was saddened to hear about the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Her devotion and consistent dedication in her role as head of state, right up to her death, are as extraordinary as they are inspiring. Whilst the IUCr is not of Royal Charter, the Queen has featured several times in recognising crystallography.

The Queen, alongside the Duke of Edinburgh, officially opened the UK’s synchrotron, Diamond Light Source, in October 2007 (see photo) and has awarded medals and honours over the years to many researchers in the field of crystallography:

• A Royal Medal was awarded to Professor D. C. Phillips in 1975 in recognition of his solution of the three-dimensional structure of an enzyme [lysozyme] and his outstanding contributions to the techniques of X-ray crystallography.
  
   
• In 2004, John Pendry was recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list with a knighthood for his services to science.
  
   
• IUCrJ Editorial Board Member Richard Henderson (MRC LMB, Cambridge, UK) was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's 2018 Birthday Honours list for services to electron microscopy of biological molecules.