Losing Queen was key part of total sea change for Britain

THE phrase “end of an era” is often overused, but not when we consider the events of September 2022 and the death of Queen Elizabeth.

- Neil Clark

For millions of us, she was the only monarch we'd ever known. Life without her seemed unthinkable. But the unthinkable happened and Her Majesty passed away aged 96.

The strangeness of a Britain without Queen Elizabeth II - having to sing “God save the King” instead of “God save the Queen” — continues to resonate to this day.

Looking back from the vantage point of the Queen’s triumphant Platinum Jubilee of June 2022, who could have predicted the upheavals that lay ahead?

These changes have had much more of an impact because they happened in a country that was renowned for its stability. After all, we had the same monarch for 70 years.

Prior to 2019, we had seven prime ministers in 40 years. Between 1979 and 2007, we had three. But since the summer of 2019, we've had four!

So does any of this matter? I believe it does. The events of the past three years have been traumatic to a country not used to such big changes.

Of course, the Queen wasn’t going to live forever and we were going to have to face life without her at some point. But to me and I suspect many others — and I mean no disrespect to King Charles and Queen Camilla, who have settled into their new roles admirably — it still feels rather unreal and unsettling that our old monarch is no longer here.