Last week saw tumultuous events in Britain; and that of course is a very British understatement! On Tuesday the new Conservative prime minister Liz Truss, replacing Boris Johnson, met Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II, at Balmoral, her much-loved castle near Aberdeen in Scotland. On Thursday the Queen, aged 96, died, just 48 hours after having received her 15th premier since Winston Churchill in her seven decades on the throne.

 It was a landmark event in the life of the United Kingdom, with long-lasting implications. The Queen was officially Head of State, in line with Britain defining itself as a constitutional monarchy. It feels like a fully-fledged democracy as well, though her eldest son, Prince Charles, now aged 73, has succeeded his late mother, and will be known as King Charles III. And his second wife, formerly Camilla Parker-Bowles, will be officially referred to as Queen Consort.

 Outside Buckingham Palace in London, Britain's new monarch was met with cheers, applause and a crowd singing "God Save the King" as he made his first public appearance since ascending the throne last Friday. It was confirmed - for the first time ever on TV – in an elaborate and highly-choreographed ceremony at nearby St James Palace on Saturday morning.

 The Queen’s death will affect people across the country: barristers will be referred to formally as king’s counsels (KCs) rather than queen’s counsels (QCs). On postage stamps and banknotes images of the Queen will be replaced by portraits of her eldest son. BBC presenters and reporters wore black clothes and ties in covering the grim but hardly surprising news of the death. Many sports events and concerts were postponed as an “act of respect.”

 The Queen’s extraordinary life story is now being told in thousands of obituaries prepared years in advance by British and international media. Her main achievement is that she never once used her poorly-defined royal prerogative. From Churchill to Truss, who is roughly half the Queen’s age, Elizabeth II never forgot that her kingdom was a democracy. It was quite amusing that she met the current Conservative prime minister the day before she passed away – leading to disrespectful comments on social media.

 Not only did she never intervene, she was always at her government’s disposal as a vastly influential diplomatic and public relations tool across the Commonwealth and the wider world. Unlike her predecessors, her father George VI included, Elizabeth was very perceptive about her role. Not only did she never give orders, she understood that she and her family had to be regularly exposed to the public eye. “She realized that she served as Britain’s spiritual grandma, a grandma who never retired,” as one foreign correspondent observed.

 Six former prime ministers praised her contribution, from Conservatives John Major, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson to Labour’s Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. All described emotionally their weekly but private audiences with the Queen.

 With a tribute to his “darling mama” the new King on Friday evening, made an encouraging start. “We will have to get used to this. King Charles III has popped into our living rooms to say hello for the first time as King,” wrote one newspaper columnist. “It was a little startling to see a picture of the Queen on his desk, just as she often had a picture of King George ….on hers when she went on television. It was a smart touch, sharing the moment with her.”

 For the 70 years of her reign, Britain turned from a global empire into just another post-war European country. Not only did the imperial space vanish, the private sphere narrowed with relentless cruelty – with the media dissecting every detail of the failed marriages of three of her four children. Then there were the racist jokes from her husband Prince Philip and the soap opera produced by her younger grandson, Prince Harry, and his American starlet wife. The Queen bore it all in silence, save for one time: with the marriages of two of her sons falling apart, she said with typical understatement: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.”

 “It does feel like the end of an era as we move into a harsher time with questionable leaders, spiralling debt, a gasping planet and power-hungry bastards threatening world peace and order,” observed one financial analyst.

 Eight years ago, the unconfirmed rumour that the Queen very much opposed Scotland’s departure from her realm was enough to decide the referendum against independence. It’s highly doubtful that her successor will be able to provide Britain with as much independence and cohesion. The new King is likely to generate much more controversy than his beloved mama.

 Over what has been described as a “50-year apprenticeship”, King Charles has championed his causes, from better training and opportunities for young people to pollution and the climate crisis. The reputation of “the Firm”, as the royal family is sometimes called, is an extremely important element of Britain’s history from the early 17th century to now. The Queen has left a void that the UK will struggle to fill.

BY: IAN BLACK