Elizabeth Windsor RIP

Well, this has turned out to be quite a week of change for the UK; a new Prime Minister and a new monarch within the space of two days.

Of course the former has become so commonplace recently that it’s hardly worth commenting upon, but the latter is a novel experience for just about the whole population, so it’s difficult to know how the country will react. It’s the sort of thing that feels like a bad omen, especially given the general sense of gloom that has been pervading the nation lately, but on the other hand the immediate response of most of my (admittedly unrepresentative) associates has been to look forward to some extra public holidays, so perhaps the net effect will be to lighten the popular mood somewhat.

Whatever; I expect we’ll have to plod through a week or two of sombre music and public lamentation, though hopefully it will be a little more dignified than the mass hysteria that broke out when Mrs Windsor’s ex-daughter-in-law passed away. There might even be a reasoned debate about the future of the monarchy, though that perhaps is too much to hope for…