Every single one of us is affected by dead and with death comes great change. A change to daily routine, to family structures, to social circles and sometimes to religious faith and spirituality. Over the last few years, Covid changed the world. Add to that now, the rising cost of living. Britain itself has gone through constant change with Brexit and the high turnover of Prime Ministers. Now, we as a country face a tremendous change, the change of our monarchy.

Even if you stand in direct opposition of what the royal family represents which is privilege that we as individuals will never know. The tyranny and imperialism that the British Empire undertook. Wealth and power centralised in one area away from ordinary people; you cannot ignore the significance of The Queen’s death. Over the last seventy years, she has been the constant. The foundation that many people and a country have relied on and she is deeply rooted into what makes Britain Britain. Her silhouette graces our stamps, she is on our money, imbedded on our post-boxes and prison service and all of this is without us really thinking about it. We as a society just accepted that she was our Queen without question and that she would always be there. And all of this underpins British traditions and culture.

But I think her death will raise difficult questions. Do we need a monarchy? What will this monarchy look like? With the rise of feminist and the call and need for an inclusive society, here we are yet again with another stuffy old white man in power. What kind of society do we want to live in and how can this new monarchy bring what society so desperately needs?

We will never see the likes of Elizabeth II again. Like her or loathe her she took her role with great seriousness, and she did her duty to the best of her ability. She honoured the traditions and kept the promises she set all those years ago. Her duty was unwavering, something that perhaps the MPs we have now should look towards. She tried to set an example especially during the time of her husband’s death. This Queen, this woman who exceeded most people’s expectations, is a fellow human being. In amongst all the questions, political and social upheaval her death will bring, there are people grieving and a fractured country that feels even more adrift than ever before.

Her death is on a global scale. But the emotions that people are showing is the same grief process that many of us have faced when someone we deeply care for dies. Every single death throws up questions, fear and the dawn of something new.

-Ann B-