The Queen cherished the Commonwealth – but change lies ahead David Olusoga

Our ancestors were better prepared for moments like this. The corollary of having witnessed the longest reign in British history is that only a tiny fraction of us have any memory of a monarch’s passing – and such memories that do exist are faded, unreliable recollections.

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The events of the coming days and weeks will be nothing like the royal events we do have experience of – mainly weddings and jubilees. The United Kingdom has entered a period of genuine trauma, one that will be punctuated by a series of unfamiliar rituals that, behind closed doors, have been years in the planning.

Whatever your attitude towards hereditary monarchy as an institution, it is simply not possible to be a disinterested bystander . Britain is instantly changed .

Although profound to us, the changes will be modest in historic terms. At the time of Elizabeth II’s coronation , the Labour leader and former prime minster Clement Attlee expressed his hope that the British people were witnessing “the beginning of a new Elizabethan age no less renowned than the first”. That second Elizabethan age’s conclusion coincides with a terminus moment .

Many of the most profound changes likely to follow the passing of Queen Elizabeth II will take place beyond our shores and, in many ways, are already under way.