"The Queen is Dead - Long Live the King"

The second Elizabethan Age has ended. A 96 year old woman has died. She was born into great wealth & power. She was undoubtedly remarkable. Hers was a life of huge privilege, but also a life constrained by constant duty & public gaze. Few thinking people would actually want that life, whatever it's benefits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II

It is her funeral today. 11 days of mourning have passed. 11 astonishing days in which her death has dominated the press & media & relegated all other news, however important to the shadows. It has been 11 days of transition for the UK.

There has been an outpouring of emotion & sadness. I am amazed at the huge popular response at all of the royal palaces. The thousands who have queued for hours. We probably all know far more about our queen than we did, even though we already knew a lot because of her huge presence in our lives for years.

It is appropriate that she should be given a very traditional send off. I'm watching the TV showing the massed services marching to her funeral now. It is a wonderful spectacle. One that possibly only the UK could put on. Dictatorships like Russia can parade their massed armaments & armies, but it doesn't compare to this. The voluntary respect for a diminutive elderly woman who ruled through consensus & love.

Yes, it is questionable whether there has been too much coverage. It has been very repetetive & dominant. So many "talking heads" have been produced to air their views. But there have been ordinary peoples stories too. The character of the queen has emerged from that. 

There are huge problems that the world needs to deal with. They have not gone away. The death of a monarch has deflected from that. There is also the financial cost of all of this in a time when many people are struggling with inflation & a choice between eating & heating. There is a war in Europe. There is the climate emergency. 

I find myself conflicted. I do not believe in inherited wealth. But I do recognise that our monarchy is a quite unique exercise of "soft power" & possibly bringing people together to make the world better. 

Having seen the excesses of our politicians over the years I really do not think that I want a President to replace a monarch. So for me it is true. "The Queen is dead, long live the King". I just hope that Charles & William will fulfill their role as well as the queen did. She made mistakes. But not that many over 70 years.