The Queen is dead, Long live the King.

The Queen is dead

On the 6th of February 1952, Princess Elizabeth Windsor became Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. And so started a reign of 70 years and 214 days. 

Churchill was Prime Minister, the first of her reign and as her last act as Monarch, on the 6th of September, 2022, two days before she died, she asked Mary Elizabeth Truss to become her 15th. And last. I wonder if she knew this was going to be her last Prime Minister? 

She was visibly frail, but none of us expected her to be dead so soon.

The Queen is dead  

I'm 58 and during my whole life, there has only been one head of State, Queen Elizabeth II. I celebrated her Silver Jubilee whilst at Primary School. Now there is King Charles III. There will be a new face on our coins. The national anthem has changed. The title QC has ceased to exist, now it's KC.

It's not that her memory is being erased, or disrespect is being shown. She was and is too loved and respected for that. This is how our constitution works. Unsentimental, business-like. 

How many of us, surprised ourselves by the intensity of our sadness and feeling of grief for someone we didn't really know and most of us had never met, who lived the sort of privileged life that most of us can't even dream about enjoying. But who seemed so ordinary. 

She was and wasn't one of us. Even many who want a Republic felt respect for the Queen. 

In times of greatest stress, she had the knack for saying the right thing. Like after September 11, when the Twin Towers were brought down she reminded us that "Grief is the price we pay for love", which was both wise and caring.

My family were and are, supporters of the Monarchy. We would never hear anything against the Queen. She was loved and revered in equal measure. The nearest my parents came to divorce was when my father, as a member of the armed forces, was invited to Buckingham Palace and turned it down. A mistake he was never allowed to forget. But he was proud to earn the Queen's shilling. 

The Queen is dead. 

Long live the King.

Whatever the weaknesses of an inherited Monarch as Head of State, at least we know beforehand who is going to be the next King or Queen. So we have known for 73 years that Charles would one day take over and be our King. 

And he has to take over instantly. No time is allowed for private mourning, he has to meet the Prime Minister, speak to the nation and reassure his subjects that despite their doubts and fears, he will be up to the job. 

And there have long been doubts about Charles. Many disapproved of his backing for action against climate change. Some think he is a crank for his advocacy of organic farming. But increasing numbers see these beliefs that he has held long before they became mainstream as a sign of his thoughtfulness and care.

He will be crowned King. The ceremony will be so much harder to get right than the Queens, as increasing secularism and a racially more diverse society, will require a Coronation and a King that must try and reflect this. He has a difficult job ahead of him. Many will compare him to his mother and find him wanting. Which is unfair, he has to tread his own path. 

He has to try and be a good King Charles III, he could only ever be a poor imitation of Queen Elizabeth II. 

And not just for the obvious reason.

So I will wish him well and pray that he finds strength and wisdom when it is needed.

Long live the King, Long live King Charles III.