Queen Elizabeth II leaves behind a kingdom deeply grieving and badly shaken by her loss. For many, the monarch and monarchy had become indivisible. Even though Prince Charles has had almost a lifetime to prepare for his succession, the institution will be seriously challenged. The expressions of grief and heartfelt tributes will throw a cloak also over a deeper uncertainty. For how long will the union over which she reigned — the United Kingdom of the three nations of Britain and Northern Ireland — outlive her?
The 96-year-old monarch’s failing health was no secret. She had been obliged to miss many of the events in this year’s national celebrations of her platinum jubilee. The shock of her death will be no less profound for that. No other public figure was held in greater affection. In a nation beset by economic troubles, scarred by the polarisation of its politics and uncertain of its place in the world, the Queen was a vital anchor.
By any standards her reign was remarkable, spanning the UK’s epochal transition from empire to an influential but second-tier global power. For the most part these were difficult decades and, as Brexit and its aftermath have shown, the nation has still to find a place in the world with which it can be comfortable. Yet the words most commonly associated with Queen Elizabeth II have been stability and continuity.