So I haven’t written in a while – what started with the world dealing with a pandemic, strangely meaning I became busier than I was when working; and then at work, it seemed as if I was busier than I had been before. But now I have the time – and, more importantly, the inclination – to go back to writing again.

And to ease back into an old habit, why not expound on the most non-controversial of all subjects – the Queen’s Funeral. For many, it has been a time of mourning and national reckoning, to picture a post-Elizabethan age. But for others, for many others (myself included) it has best been seen as an interesting historic occasion; yet another major event that we live through.

If forced into a binary choice, I would say that I am, instinctively, a republican. There is an argument for ‘a monarchy’, an apolitical projection of the national consciousness; but the coverage over the past 12 days, has not been that argument. For me, the past 12 days has been an inescapable display of national pageantry in a language I cannot understand. Anything less than full understanding of and participation in the utter sorrow that has overtaken the nation has been taken to be outright disrespect to Queen and Country. For now cannot be the time – for the Queen was a person too.

There is a personal tragedy, for sure, and for Charles to have to live that out publicly for nigh-on 2 weeks in full view of the public is unimaginable – but it was not merely Charles, son of Elizabeth living it out; it was Charles III, the current and future King. The personal and political (for the role of Monarch is a political, though non-partisan one) are so completely and utterly intertwined, that it is impossible to question the latter without, apparently, impugning the dignity of the former. It is “not appropriate” to ask whether we continue to accept the Divine Right of Kings because that King is currently grieving – but we must demand that he grieve and mourn publicly and repeatedly, because person or not, he is the King.

But there is, in some way, a reason and comfort in the traditions of all this. I might be against what those customs and ceremonies represent – but they do mean something. The King signing separate English and Scottish declarations means something; the peculiarly timed proclaimations of the Death of the Old and Ascension of the New Monarch mean something; even the Coronation with all its religious ceremony and national pomposity means something. That much is, at least, understandable. But there is also meaning in asking, sincerely, “Why” and asking if everything that has accompanied these traditions is required?

Why do we lose 2 weeks of national life – a period which began during Parliamentary action on the biggest Cost of Living Crisis of my lifetime (yet another major historical event)? Why are we, as a country, pretending it’s OK for a woman to bring the ashes of a dead relative to the Queen’s lying in state? Why is the biggest national scandal currently the possibility that 2 TV presenters may have skipped The Queue™️ – because God forbid this nation treat people differently based simply on who they are? Why have there been BBC Breaking News alerts on every movement of any royal over the last 10 days? Why are we treating The Queue™️ the way we are? Why is it almost impossible to avoid the funeral on the main TV Channels? Why is the Speaker of the House of Commons saying that the Funeral will be “the most important event the world will ever see” unchallenged on the BBC Sunday politics slot? Why do people feel comfortable saying that viewing the Queen lying in State was better for them than the birth of their (named) children on national television? Ultimately, why is it “disgusting” to say you just don’t get it?

Because I just don’t get it. There is a difference between respect for an institution and a person’s legacy – which are sentiments I can understand and can share in – and what seemed to be verging on hysteria. Different people’s relationship to and perception of The Queen will be different, but over the last 2 weeks, there has only been space to reflect upon one view. While I’m not certain that one-man protests are ever an effective tactic (particulary when publicity and not progress seems to be the main purpose), they should not be treated as illegal on the basis of what another person’s reaction to a political position may be.

Because, any regime or government is most vulnerable at a time of transition, which would make the change in Monarch the time to ask: Are we sure we should still be doing this? Not as a slight on the character of the previous Monarch, not the qualities of the next – but a question about the institution itself. Whether it is still a fit for a 21st Century Britain, or at least to foster an understanding that there are many people who feel differnetly (regardless of your view) to you.

But, now that the Funeral has taken place, and Elizabeth II has been laid to rest, we may begin to return to a new new normal, and deal with the many crisies now facing us. Normal service may resume shortly.