Monarchy is long to reign over us ... it's what we do

T HAS been three years since the death of The Queen. The date of her passing, September 8, is, arguably, the most important date in recent British history.

- Alan Grant Writer and Commentator

More important than the date of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, June 23, 2016; more impactful than the day its Scottish part rejected separatism, September 18, 2014; and more reverberative even than Tony Blair’s historic election victory on May 1, 1997. No doubt, Mr Blair will have a different opinion on that.

There can be few more important dates in the history of modern Britain than the ending of the second Elizabethan age.

It is possible one must go back to January 30, 1965, the funeral of Winston Churchill to find the next most competitively potent example.

Elizabeth II’s death was one of those very few days on which it is legitimate to say a nation changed. At the age of 96, her death was not tragic, although it was sad given what she meant to so many, and it had been talked about for some time.

OPERATION London Bridge, the very public secret code word used for her funeral arrangements, was well documented and the country knew what to expect. I recall it being a contemplative, introspective time, full of memories of a woman who gave everything to a nation, which in turn was grateful to her.